Planet Neptune

There are eight planets in our solar system. The ones closest to the sun, are hotter than the ones that are farther away. Neptune is the farthest planet from our sun, that is in our solar system. Because of this distance, Neptune is the coldest planet in our solar system. Neptune is the 4th largest planet in the Solar System. It is bigger than Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.The

Neptune was only discovered on September 23, 1846. That was only 163 years ago in other words, since its discovery, Neptune has made one single orbit around the Sun! The orbit was in 2011” -http://www.universetoday.com/44187/how-long-does-it-take-neptune-to-orbit-the-sun/

During the first millennium B.C. scientists realized that astronomy had to become more scientific. Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures started studying the Sun, stars and the planets more closely in an attempt to learn more about our position in the universe.. Star positions also became important tools in understanding directions, and helping with navigation. One philosopher stated in 434 B.C. that the Sun was a ball of fire 60 kilometres in diameter, hovering 6500 kilometres above Earth’s surface. Around 130 B.C., Ptolemy wrote Almagest, which was a huge collection of astronomical data which included mathematical models, information about eclipses, and planetary and stellar positions and movements. It remained a major go to book for astronomy for hundreds of years, and was not seriously challenged until Copernicus disputed the geocentric model of the solar system in the 1500’s

And in 1618 Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).

The discovery of the Neptune planet was the result of various hypotheses, generated by different astronomers and mathematicians from 1781 to 1847. The article entitled “Accounting for Anomaly: The Discovery of Neptune” describes how Neptune was mathematically identified, before being directly observed, using the calculations of Urbain Le Verrier. He made the hypothesis that the Newtonian gravitation law could not fully explain the series of irregularities in the path of the Uranus planet. Le Verrier suggested the existence of another planet, after Uranus, that could affect its gravity. In 1845 his hypothesis followed a series of calculations to determine the nature and position of this unknown planet. By this calculations Le Verrier’s understood

The discovery of Uranus by William Herschel in 1781 was a surprise to the professional astronomers of the day. William was an amateur astronomer and he made his own telescopes. He was looking at the night sky and he was looking at what others had noted was another star. With his better equipment, he could see that it was not a star but a planet. He wanted to name the planet after King George III of England. It was decided that is was going to be named after the Greek gods. It got the name of Uranus who was the father of Saturn according to mythology. It took a few years for that name to stick but when it did, the rest was history. William did get a paid as a professional astronomer after his discovery. That is good advice for all of us: Do

Bode has many other contributions to astronomy. He found, in total, four different celestial bodies and “rediscovered” three others. He discovered M81, a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major; M82, an irregular galaxy also in Ursa Major; M53, a globular cluster in Coma Berenices; M92, another globular cluster, in Hercules; M64, a spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, this one was discovered by Edward Pigott then Bode rediscovered it 12 days later; M48, an open cluster in Hydra, discovered by Charles Messier; and IC4665, an open open cluster in Ophiuchus, discovered by De Cheseaux. Also, in 1776 Bode created his version of the theory of the solar constitution. Later in 1795, Sir William Herschel created his theory of the theory of the solar constitution by tweaking Bode’s version to fit his beliefs. Bode is the man whom came up with the planet name “Uranus” and it has been called that ever since.

During one of his nightly star gazing rituals, he discovered what he thought to be a new comet. He returned four days later to find the comet to have moved, thus increasing his certainty that it was. He shared his discovery with others, who despite having a hard time confirming his discoveries at first,

sun than Earth, or 97 Astronomical Units (AU). For comparison, Pluto is 40 AU from the sun.

Uranus was the very first planet to be discovered since the beginning of recorded history. William Herschel was a man of music, but he was also very interested in astronomy and often studied books about it. His love for astronomy is what ultimately led him to the discovery of the planet.

He also discovered that human bodies fall at the same velocity, the moon is not smooth, and many other astronomical discoveries that led to his label of

The stars and its behavior have been studied for thousands of years. An astronomer Sir William Herschel made an important discovery for modern times. He used the telescope as a tool to discover the seventh planet of our solar system which was considered before by the astronomers to be a star. Herschel found the planet through the use of 227 power telescope on the western extremity of the constellation Gemini in search of double stars. The planet was discovered on March 13, 1781. Herschel named the planet Georgium Sidus, or the “Georgian Planet,” in honor of King George III of England. The name was later changed by a German astronomer called Johann Bode who proposed the name “Uranus”.

He was one of the first to discover planets were not just a light in the sky. Through his invention he discovered the universe was messy and chaotic not geocentric like the numerous people of his time believed. Within the same year he discovered four bright objects that circled Jupiter which are now known as the Galilean moons (lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto). In 1610 he published a short book called The Starry Messenger which showcased his discoveries that the moon was not smooth and flat but a sphere with craters. He discovered Venus had phases like our moon, showing how it rotated around the sun.

“Perhaps most important for the science of astronomy is that the discovery of Uranus began the search for other undiscovered planets in our solar system. It was the beginning of a second phase in the discovery of planets, during which Neptune and Pluto were discovered.”

Clyde Tombaugh was initially hired by Vesto Slipher of the Lowell Observatory, located in Arizona, as an “assistant observer on a trial basis,” according to David Leverington, author of “A History of Astronomy from 1890 to the Present”. (Leverington) But, starting on April 6th, 1929, Tombaugh began the search that was started by Percival Lowell for what he had dubbed as ‘Planet X’.