From the most ancient times right up to the sixteenth century, astronomers knew of only five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) as well as the Earth, which was delicately nested at the heart of the Universe. For a very long time, this geocentrism constituted the dominant vision of the Western world, right up to the day when Nicolas Copernicus put the church back in the middle of the village and the Sun in the centre of the Solar System.

The Earth no longer reigned at the centre of everything. It became an appendage of the day star, a planet like any other. The Universe was turned topsy-turvy. And in addition to this, there were Galileo's Medicean planets. The Solar System was taking shape, and there was nothing to stop the telescope from finding new worlds. Anything was possible, except, perhaps, finding a planet beyond Saturn. It was still thought that the ‘lord of the rings’ ended the world of the planets and that after it there was nothing but stars. It took nearly two centuries for this model to be laid to rest.

HINTS OF URANUS

The German William Herschel was born in 1738 in Hanover, Prussia. His family was a big one. His parents, Isaac and Anne, had ten children. Four died young. The other six were raised to the regular rhythm of scales played by their father, an oboe player in the military band of the Guards of Hanover.