Yesterday, I gave a presentation on how to use the minor planets in your work. I used this chronology of planetary discoveries as a basis for the class. Here is the chronology used as the basic structure for the class.
Planetary Discovery Chronology
Dec. 28, 1612 – Galileo makes first sighting of Neptune, while stationing retrograde, in conjunction to Jupiter, in Virgo.
This is during the incredible winter of 1612-1613, when he discovers the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus and individual stars in the Milky Way. He is not credited with the discovery of Neptune because it’s presumed he mistook it for a fixed star.
However, later research indicates that he may have been aware it was a planet. Neptune appears and disappears many times from the perception of astronomers during the next two and a half centuries.
1781, official discovery of Uranus, the first modern planet. This is credited to Sir William Herschel, a Brit; as with many discoveries, I am aware there is a debate, but Sir William is the one we remember. The earliest recorded prediscovery sighting was in 1690, when John Flamsteed observed the planet at least six times, cataloging it as 34 Tauri (thinking it was a star). The French astronomer, Pierre Lemonnier, observed Uranus at least twelve times between 1750 and 1769, including on four consecutive nights. I guess it’s hard to know what a new planet is when nobody has ever discovered one before.
(Minor planets 1-4) Discovery of Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Vesta 1801-07 – re-emergence of the feminine; birth of the minor planets (then called asteroids). True fact: Ceres, discovered on Jan. 1, 1801 was the second planet discovered orbiting our Sun, besides those obviously visible. Most astrologers unto the present day pretend it does not exist, or that it doesn’t quite mean anything. It is currently classified not as an asteroid but as a dwarf planet. I have a question. Vesta, though small, is the brightest asteroid. One can supposedly see it with the bare eye. So why wasn’t it discovered in the days of much darker night skies, when people had less to do, and were constantly looking at the sky for entertainment?
(5) Astraea, 1845, the fifth asteroid, is discovered after a 38 year gap; predicts the discovery of Neptune the following year. Astraea is named for the goddess of justice — the one you see in Libra and the Justice/Adjustment tarot card.