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Discoveries > Uranus I

URANUS



Credit: library of the Paris Observatory
The 40-inch telescope built by Herschel in 1798


Uranus was discovered by the amateur astronomer William Herschel, on March 13, 1781, in the constellation of Gemini, through a telescope that he made himself. 


He thought he had discovered a new comet, but the calculation of its orbit led to conclude to the presence of a new planet.