Discovery and exploration of the Solar System Domenico Cassini later discovered four more moons of Saturn and the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. Edmond Halley realised in 1705 that repeated sightings of a comet were recording the same object, returning regularly once every 75–76 years. This was the first evidence that anything other than the planets orbited the Sun. Around this time (1704), the term "Solar System" first appeared in English. In 1781, William Herschel was looking for binary stars in the constellation of Taurus when he observed what he thought was a new comet. Its orbit revealed that it was a new planet, Uranus, the first
Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons asterisk (*) had complicated discoveries. Some took years to be confirmed, and in several cases were actually lost and rediscovered. Others were found in Voyager photographs years after they were taken." The planets and their natural satellites are marked in the following colors: <onlyinclude> </includeonly></onlyinclude> Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons <onlyinclude> The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication