Plate 8 figures 1, 2, 3 and 5 from the paper 'On the construction of the heavens', by William Herschel, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol.75 (1785), pp.213-266. Illustrations to support Herschel's speculations on the larger structures formed by stars. Figure 1 shows an ideal arrangement of four sections of cones of stars, the stars filling the space most evenly. Figure 2 shows an alternative arrangement with one star at the apex of a cone with three others in the circumference of the section. Figure 3 planes of first and second sections in a theoretical cone of stars. Figure 4 shows a perforated or ring nebula, which Herschel interprets as probably being 'a ring of stars'.Original: pencil and ink on paper. 1785
