Notes on the planet |
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. |