Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, an ice giant that expanded the known boundaries of our solar system. Before its final acceptance, the planet went through a period of debate and political controversy over its name. As the first planet discovered with a telescope, its unique status meant that a new naming convention needed to be established for the first time since antiquity.
The Moment of Discovery
The planet’s discovery occurred on March 13, 1781, by the German-born British astronomer Sir William Herschel. Herschel was systematically surveying the night sky from his home in Bath, England, using a powerful reflecting telescope he had built. He initially noted a faint, non-stellar object in the constellation of Gemini that he believed was a comet.
Over the following nights, Herschel observed the object moved slowly against the background of fixed stars, a characteristic of objects within our solar system. This movement suggested it was a closer body with a distinct orbit, not a distant star. Subsequent calculations confirmed its nearly circular path, which was far more typical of a planet than the elongated orbit of a comet.
The Discoverer’s Proposed Name
As the discoverer, William Herschel had the right to propose a name for the new celestial body. He chose Georgium Sidus, which is Latin for “George’s Star” or “Georgian Planet,” intending to honor his patron, King George III of Great Britain.
Herschel’s motivation was gratitude and political expediency, acknowledging the monarch who had supported his work and later appointed him as the King’s Astronomer. He formally announced the name, but this choice immediately caused friction outside of Great Britain. The name was criticized for breaking the tradition of using classical mythology for planetary names and for injecting a politically charged tribute into science.
The Struggle for Universal Nomenclature
The name Georgium Sidus was unpopular across continental Europe, where astronomers resisted naming a planet after a British king. This resulted in an immediate struggle to find a universally acceptable and non-political name. The French astronomer Jérôme Lalande, for example, suggested naming the planet Herschel in honor of the discoverer.
Other alternatives were briefly considered, including Astraea and Cybele, drawing on Roman mythology. The name Neptune was also suggested by the Swedish astronomer Erik Prosperin. Astronomers were concerned that a name dedicated to a living monarch would not stand the test of time, unlike the deities of Roman and Greek mythology.
Adoption of the Name Uranus
The eventual resolution came from the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode, who proposed the name Uranus in 1782. Bode argued that the new planet should follow the existing mythological tradition to maintain consistent nomenclature. He pointed out that since Saturn was the father of Jupiter, the next planet should be named after the father of Saturn, who was Uranus (Ouranos) in Greek mythology.
This mythological lineage provided a logical structure, as Uranus was the Greek god of the sky and the earliest supreme deity. Bode’s proposal was widely adopted because it was non-political and fit the classical pattern. Although it was the Latinized version of a Greek god, the name Uranus gained widespread use across Europe. Britain’s HM Nautical Almanac Office officially switched from Georgium Sidus to Uranus in 1850, standardizing the name globally.