It appeared to him that
one of these stars was of an unusual diameter; and he came to the
conclusion, therefore, that it was a comet. It was under this
denomination that it was discussed at the meeting of the Royal Society.
But the researches of Herschel at a later period showed that the orbit
of the new body was circular, and accordingly it was elevated to the
rank of a planet. As already stated, Herschel named it, in compliment to
George III., the Georgium Sidus; in this copying the example of Galileo
with his "Medicaean stars." Afterwards, astronomers christened it
Herschel, and subsequently Uranus, in conformity with the mythological
nomenclature of the other planets.
The immense distance of Uranus from our Earth, its small angular
diameter, and the feebleness of its light, seemed to preclude the hope
that, if it were attended by satellites of the same dimensions in
proportion to its own magnitude as those of the satellites of Jupiter
and Saturn in proportion to _their_ magnitude, they could be descried by
any human observer.
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