PRIDE CHEKERAdiscovered Uranus, accidentally, as the seventh planet. Herschel
was not the first person to look at Uranus but it had already been
observed without knowledge of it. Before its discovery people
thought it was a faint star like all others observed. Herschel
believed that there might be many other faint planets in our solar
system like Uranus whose observations are difficult but only
possible with use of telescopes pointed in right direction.
Following calculations of Uranus’ orbit in 1790, it was
discovered that the planet’s calculated orbit was not consistence
with the observed Uranus’ orbital trajectory in 1690. The
observed orbit was not in line with Newton’s theory of gravity
despite the perturbation effects of Jupiter and Saturn.
Astronomers started to suspect that they must be a planet beyond
Uranus whose gravitational effects influences the orbit of
Uranus. That marked the search for that eighth planet. John
Couch Adams, in 1843, calculated the mass and possible orbital
trajectory of that missing planet within an error of 2 degrees.
British astronomer George Airy was informed by Adams about
his calculations concerning the eighth planet and the Aquarius
region to look for the planet. Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, a
French mathematician, in 1846, calculated to an error of 1
degree and found that there was a missing planet in Aquarius
region. After Airy came to know about Le Verrier’s findings he
informed the British astronomer James Challis to look for the
planet but, unfortunately, he failed to pick it up. After receiving