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Discovering planets The discoveries of Ceres, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and the techniques involved Below are key people, locations and other information about the discoveries of Ceres, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Research these discoveries, and write 4 paragraphs, using each of the terms below in the paragraphs. (Press Enter for hints) 1781 Urbain Le Verrier 1801 Uranus 1846 William Herschel 1930 Astronomer Royal ‘star' appeared as a small disk Pluto Bath Berlin Observatory perturbations Palermo Observatory Ceres own telescope Clyde Tombaugh George Airy Guiseppe Piazza Johann Galle Neptune mistaken for a comet Lowell Observatory John Couch Adams Below are key people, locations and other information about the discoveries of Ceres, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Research these discoveries, and write 4 paragraphs, using each of the terms below in the paragraphs. (Press Enter for hints) Here are some examples… Uranus was discovered in 1781, when William Herschel was using his own telescope in his garden at his home in Bath. One ‘star’ appeared as a small disk and was initially mistaken for a comet. However, subsequent observations showed it was a new planet. Ceres was discovered in 1801. When Guiseppe Piazza was observing at Palermo Observatory, he noticed that one faint star changed positions over some days. Neptune was discovered in 1846. The previous year in England, John Couch Adams had assumed that perturbations (irregularities) in Uranus’s position might be caused by an unknown planet and used maths to predict its position. He informed the Astronomer Royal George Airy, who did nothing with Adam’s work. The following year in France, Urbain Le Verrier also predicted this new planet, and Johann Galle at Berlin Observatory searched and found the new planet. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. Using the telescopes at the Lowell Observatory over a period of time, he eventually located it photographically. How do astronomers find a ‘non star’ amidst all the other real stars? Observation 1 Observation 2 Observation 3 Combining the observations… When the observations are combined together, the ‘star’ that seems to move is actually not a star. It could be planet, dwarf planet, comet or something similar. By the nineteenth century, astronomers were confident they understood how planets moved and had for some time been able to accurately predict the position of planets. However, they couldn’t explain why the predicted and actual positions of Uranus varied. They concluded: actual position of Uranus on 1st date Either their laws of gravity were wrong – unlikely are they seemed to work for all the other planets, or there was an unknown planet in in this area of sky… predicted position of Uranus on 1st date actual position of Uranus on 2nd date actual position of Uranus on 3rd date …which was pulling Uranus away from its expected position. predicted position of Uranus on 2nd date predicted position of Uranus on 3rd date Allowing for the gravitational pull on Uranus by the unknown planet = Sun John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier used mathematics to calculate the approximate position of Neptune Predicted direction of Uranus from Earth = Earth = Uranus = unknown planet (Neptune) Observed direction of Uranus from Earth