Whose discovery was the planet Uranus?

William Herschel, a musician turned astronomer, was scanning the sky from his garden in Bath, England, with a homemade telescope when he noticed an object that was not a point-like star. He first thought it was a comet, but its nearly circular orbit showed it was a new planet, doubling the known size of the Solar System. Herschel wanted to name it “Georgium Sidus” (George’s Star) after King George III, who rewarded him with a royal pension. Astronomer Johann Bode suggested Uranus, after the Greek god of the sky, which eventually became the accepted name. Uranus had been seen before but was mistaken for a star, including by John Flamsteed in 1690.