When the 8th Planet Neptune, was discovered by astronomers

 In the year of 1846, on the night of 23-24 September, astronomers discovered the 8th planet called Neptune orbiting the Sun and thereby created history, NASA said. That was 176 years ago. (Pixabay)

On the fateful Night of 23-24 September in the year 1846, astronomers discovered the eighth planet orbiting the Sun called Neptune. The discovery was a new dimension in the field of astronomy. (NASA)

The discovery of Neptune was based on mathematical calculations of its predicted position due to observed perturbations in the orbit of the planet Uranus which also have to be the seventh planet in the list of planets orbiting the Sun. (NASA)

This huge discovery of Neptune was made possible using a telescope since Neptune is too faint to be visible to the naked eye due to its huge distance from the Sun. (NASA)

More facts about Neptune were only made clear from the scientific observations made during Voyager 2’s flyby in 1989, including the discovery of five additional moons and confirmation of dark rings orbiting the planet. (Pixabay)

Astronomers Urbain Jean-Joseph Le Verrier in Paris and John Couch Adams in Cambridge, England, independently calculated the location of Uranus after it completed nearly one full revolution around the Sun in 1781. (Pixabay)

Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle was the first one to make the first observation on the new found planet with the help of the Fraunhofer telescope at the Berlin Observatory in 1846. (Pixabay)

Before it, many astronomers including Galileo Galilei in 1612 is said to have seen Neptune but could not register it due to its slow motion relative to the background stars. hence did not recognize it as a planet. (NASA)

On Oct. 10, 1846, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune, astronomer William Lassell discovered a moon orbiting around the planet using a self-built telescope. On Aug. 25, 1989, passing about 3,408 miles above Neptune's north pole, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to any planet since leaving Earth in 1977. (Pixabay)