leroichevalier:→ History week meme → day 2 : one invention/discoveryIn March 1781, during his search
leroichevalier:→ History week meme → day 2 : one invention/discoveryIn March 1781, during his search for double stars, William Herschel noticed an object appearing as a disk. Herschel originally thought it was a comet or a stellar disc, which he believed he might actually resolve.He made many more observations of it, and afterwards Russian Academician Anders Lexell computed the orbit and found it to be probably planetary.Herschel agreed, determining that it must be a planet beyond the orbit of Saturn. He called the new planet the “Georgian star” after King George III, which also brought him favour; the name did not stick. In France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as “Herschel” until the name “Uranus” was universally adopted. In 1782, William Herschel was appointed “The King’s Astronomer” . -- source link
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