Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781. This was the first discovery of a planet that was made in modern times. The reason being for this was the invention of the telescope. The use of a telescope provided William Herschel with the ability to see that Uranus was in fact a planet and not a star, as previous astronomers had thought. When William Herschel first discovered Uranus he called it by the name of Georgium Sidus in honor or King George III of England, it was later remained to Uranus by a German astronomer Johann Bode in order to be similar to other mythology derived names of the other known planets. William Herschel’s motivation for finding this discovery was just a desire to explore the unknown and to confirm or change
