[Atmob-discuss] Question about the planets

[Scott Romanowski]

At 01:06 AM 4/13/2008, Dr. Arthur G. Swedlow wrote:
>A. Joseph Ross wrote:
> > So here's a question that just occurred to me.  We all know the story
> > of how unexplained irregularities in the motion of Uranus led to the
> > discovery of Neptune.  So how come there weren't irregularities in
> > the motion of Saturn, caused by Uranus, but unexplained before Uranus
> > was discovered?
> >
> >
>Hi,
>
>I suspect that one reason is that the effect of Neptune's gravity on on
>Saturn, a planet some 6.5 times as massive, would have been rather
>small.  Uranus's motion would have perturbed more by Saturn than Saturn
>by Uranus.

I don't know the history of their development, but it could also be 
that in the 55 years between their discoveries (1781 and 1846), the 
mathematical tools to analyze orbits and the data on the orbits 
improved?  Without the data, you don't know about the perturbations, 
and without the tools, you can't analyze them.



                    Scott

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