• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Space / How Was the Planet Pluto Discovered and How Long Did It Take Astronomers To Discover Pluto After Neptune?

How Was the Planet Pluto Discovered and How Long Did It Take Astronomers To Discover Pluto After Neptune?

July 27, 2020 by Karen Hill

When astronomer William Herschel identified Uranus in 1781, astronomers determined that there must be at least one more planet beyond it to cause the idiosyncracies of its orbit.

This led to the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846.

But even Neptune’s existence did not justify the peculiarities of Uranus’s orbit.

Another planet had to exist.

Through mathematical computation, scientists pinpointed where this ninth planet, Planet X, should be.

In 1930, after 25 years of concerted searching by astronomers, Clyde Tombaugh of the Lowell Observatory, in Arizona, found Pluto.

Related Facts

  • How did astronomers discover the planet Neptune and When?
  • Where Did Pluto Come From, How Did the Planet Pluto Get Its Name, and What Is the Planet Pluto Like?
  • Where Is Planet X Located, Why Was Pluto Called Planet X, and Why Hasn’t Planet X Been Found?
  • What Is the Ninth Planet From the Sun, How Far Away Is Pluto, and Is Pluto a Planet, a Moon, or an Asteroid?
  • How Was Neptune Discovered and How Did Astronomers Determine That the Planet Neptune Existed Beyond Uranus?
  • Why Don’t Pluto and Neptune Collide When They Orbit the Sun and What Is the Planet Pluto’s Orbital Inclination?

Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where Is Planet X Located, Why Was Pluto Called Planet X, and Why Hasn’t Planet X Been Found?
Next Post: How Big Is Pluto and How Big Is the Planet Pluto Compared To Earth and Mercury? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy