How Neptune Was Found by Mathematical Calculation
Not all planets are found by observing the night sky, one of them is found first using mathematical calculations. Here is what I have read about the discovery of Neptune.
Neptune is the eighth and last planet in our solar system, but do you know how we found Neptune? It is the only planet that was predicted by mathematical equations before it was spotted by a telescope. Yes, you heard that right, Neptune was found or predicted by math first, then proved by observing with a telescope.
Neptune is too dim to be visible to the naked eye: its apparent magnitude is never brighter than 7.7. Therefore, the first observations of Neptune were only possible after the invention of the telescope. There is evidence that Neptune was seen and recorded by Galileo Galilei in 1613, Jérôme Lalande in 1795, and John Herschel in 1830, but none are known to have recognized it as a planet at the time. These pre-discovery observations were important in accurately determining the orbit of Neptune. Neptune would appear prominently even in early telescopes so other pre-discovery observation records are likely.
The official discovery of Neptune, however, was not based on direct observation but on mathematical prediction. By…
