[Atmob-discuss] Question about the planets

[Dr. Arthur G. Swedlow]

Steve Beckwith wrote:
> I don't know if Saturn's perturbation was noted by any other astronomer
> before the discovery of Uranus or if it were, how it was explained.  
> I do know the calculations to find Neptune were first performed on a whim by
> a math student at Cambridge University and then later by a French
> mathematician.   
>
> A few years back, I read "The Neptune Factor", an excellent book about the
> discovery of Neptune and the politics involved in the race to be the first
> nation and/or observatory to find Neptune.
>
> - Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: atmob-discuss-bounces at atmob.org
> [mailto:atmob-discuss-bounces at atmob.org] On Behalf Of Dr. Arthur G. Swedlow
> Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 1:07 AM
> To: A. Joseph Ross
> Cc: ATMoB-discuss at atmob.org
> Subject: Re: [Atmob-discuss] Question about the planets
>
> 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.
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>
>   
Could also be that Saturn, one of the big actors in the SS and one of 
the ancient planets first known, that no-one had a notion to check for 
perturbations.