Whose observations led to the discovery of the planet Neptune?
Quick Answer
The discovery of Neptune was predicted mathematically by Urbain Le Verrier, and it was also independently predicted by John Couch Adams. Johann Galle then observed it in 1846 near the predicted position.
The Full Story
Neptune was not found by a telescope search alone. In the 1840s, Urbain Le Verrier in France and John Couch Adams in England separately calculated that Uranus’s orbit was being disturbed by an unseen planet. Le Verrier sent his prediction to Johann Galle at the Berlin Observatory, and on 23 September 1846 Galle and Heinrich d’Arrest found Neptune almost exactly where predicted. The discovery was a triumph for mathematical astronomy.
Key Facts
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"The planet found first on paper, then in the sky"
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