Uranus

Before pronounced a planet
Uranus was seen as a star
and also called a comet
Being so dim, seen from afar

Though Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed
Saw it six times in Sixteen-Ninety
His suspicion was, it was a star
And so he named it 34-Tauri

Though faint the planet may be seen
By those with a keen eye
And so it may have been noticed by
Hipparchus of Nicaea way back in 128 BCE

But if it were, it was supposed to be a star
William Herschel saw it in 1781
Whilst observing in his garden
In Bath in Somerset.

But was convinced it was a comet
And as such announced it as one.
But Bode and Lexell both
Were otherwise persuaded

Because their calculated orbit
Was nearer circular than elliptical
Two years was sufficient to convince
Herschel of this fact

And he declared it a Primary Planet
Of our Solar System
Now it needed to be named
Happily Herschel had a hint

King George the Third had bestowed
On him, a stipend of two hundred
So long as he took his telescope to Windsor
For occasional Royal use

How better to please his patron
Than to call it George's Star
But outside of Britain
This was not a popular choice

To name it after Herschel was proposed
As was Neptune, but neither beat that of
Johann Elert Bode, first to determine it's orbit
For he suggested the planet was named Uranus.