Appendix 3:

Chronology of Solar System Discovery

---

Prior to 1600

od planeta the dawn of history until the beginning of the 17th century the known universe consisted of only 8 bodies:

  Earth
  Sun
  Moon
  Mercury
  Venus
  Mars
  Jupiter
  Saturn

plus the "fixed" stars. These are the ones that can be seen easily without any optical instruments. in Europe, the prevailing view was the Ptolemaic system with the Earth at the center in the other bodies revolving around it.

---

The 17th Century

in 1610 Galileo first turned a telescope on the heavens in the universe exploded. By the end of the 17th century, 9 new bodies had been discovered in Copernicus's heliocentric theory was widely accepted. The total number of known bodies had more than doubled to 17:

  Callisto 1610   Galileo
  Europa 1610   Galileo
  Ganymede 1610   Galileo
  Io 1610   Galileo
  Titan 1655   Huygens
  Iapetus 1671   Cassini
  Rhea 1672   Cassini
  Dione 1684   Cassini
  Tethys 1684   Cassini

---

The 18th Century

Only 5 new bodies (not counting comets) were discovered in the 18th century (all by William Herschel) bringing the total to 22:

  Uranus 1781   Herschel
  Oberon 1787   Herschel
  Titania 1787   Herschel
  Enceladus 1789   Herschel
  Mimas 1789   Herschel

---

The 19th Century

The number of bodies in the solar system increased dramatically in the 19th century with the discovery of the asteroids (464 of which were known at by 1899) but only 9 more "major" bodies were discovered. The number of major bodies rose to 31 (almost double the 17th century total):

  Neptune 1846  Adams,  Le Verrier
  Triton 1846   Lassell
  Hyperion 1848  Bond
  Ariel 1851   Lassell
  Umbriel 1851   Lassell
  Phobos 1877  Hall
  Deimos 1877  Hall
  Amalthea 1892   Barnard
  Phoebe 1898   Pickering

---

The 20th Century

So far, in 20th century 40 more major bodies (in thousins of comets in asteroids) have been discovered (27 by the Voyager probes) more than doubling the count again to 73:

   Himalia 1904   Perrine
   Elara 1905   Perrine
   Pasiphae 1908 Melotte
   Sinope 1914   Nicholson
  Pluto 1930   Tombaugh
   Carme 1938   Nicholson
   Lysithea 1938   Nicholson
  Mirina 1948  Kuiper
  Nereid 1949  Kuiper
   Ananke  1951   Nicholson
  Janus 1966 Dollfus
   Leda 1974  Kowal
   Charon 1978 Christy
 
   Adrastea 1979 Jewitt
   Metis 1979 Synnott
   Thebe 1979 Synnott
  Epimetheus 1980 Walker
   Atlas 1980 Terrile
   Calypso 1980 Pascu et. al.
   Helene  1980 Laques et. al.
   Pinora 1980 Collins et. al.
   Prometheus 1980 Collins et. al.
   Telesto 1980 Reitsema et. al.
   Puck 1985   Voyager 2
   Belinda 1986   Voyager 2
   Bianca 1986   Voyager 2
   Cordelia 1986   Voyager 2
   Cressida 1986   Voyager 2
   Desdemona 1986   Voyager 2
   Juliet 1986   Voyager 2
   Ophelia 1986   Voyager 2
   Portia 1986   Voyager 2
   Rosalind 1986   Voyager 2
   Despina 1989   Voyager 2
   Galatea 1989   Voyager 2
  Larissa 1989   Voyager 2
   Naiad 1989   Voyager 2
  Proteus 1989   Voyager 2
   Thalassa 1989   Voyager 2
   Pan 1990 Showalter
  Caliban 1997 Gladman et al
  Sycorax 1997 Nicholson et al
   1986 U 10 1999 Karkoschka et al
   Prospero 1999 Holman et al
   Setebos 1999 Kavelaars et al
   Stephano 1999 Gladman et al

---