There's a book on Archive.org that might be of interest to those researching the history and discovery of Uranus. It's a biography of the discover, William Herschel, writen in 1919 by Hector Macpherson, as part of a 'Pioneers of Progress' series, generally entitled Herschel

I like this quote from p.26 which shows Herschel wanting to call it George (or 'the Star of George' / 'George's Star) in truibute to its discovery during the reign of King George III of England (the mentally unstable king whose bout of psychological volatility kicked off the Regency Crisis of 1788 - as detailed in the movie - The Madness of King George)

"In the fabulous ages of ancient times the appellations of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were given to the planets as being the names of their principal heroes and divinities. In the present more philosophical era, it would hardly be allowable to have recourse to the same method, and to call on Juno, Pallas, Apollo, or Minerva for a name to our new heavenly body ... As a philosopher then, the name of Georgium Sidus presents itself to me ...."

Interesting, Deb. Thanks for sharing the link to the book. I headed over to Astrodatabank for a look at William Herschel's chart and got a kick out of the fact that you posted this as transiting Uranus opposes the degree of his natal Sun.

The discovery chart for Uranus is interesting when the backdrop of fixed stars is included:

Uranus is conjunct Polaris (25° Gemini on the date of the discovery); commonly referred to as the North Star, Polaris is a star that never sets and stands almost motionless in the sky - all the stars of the Northern sky appear to rotate around it.

Mars rules the ascendant and is opposite Uranus (oppositions offering a direct line of sight to something at a great distance; at least that's one way to think of them symbolically). Two stars associated with eyes or eyesight, Aculeus (22° Sagittarius) and Eltanin (24° Sagittarius), straddle Mars.

And finally, concerning Herschel's desire to name the newfound planet after the King, "the little king" Regulus (26° Leo) is on the Midheaven. I also like how this fits fits nicely into the fact that Herschel would go on to become "The King's Astronomer."

the fact that you posted this as transiting Uranus opposes the degree of his natal Sun.

And natally Asteroid Herschel conjunct his Sun in Scorpio

LOL - I started this thread because I've been aware of that quote for a while, but I only recently found a source for it, so I wanted to park it somewhere before I lost it again With my own natal Sun at 23 Taurus, everything around me seems Uranus-themed right now - and hey my Moon at 23 Virgo delights at that discovery chart. So fascinating to see the king connection with Regulus and asteroid Herschel. Do we also have an asteroid George (which is now my pet name for Uranus as it continues to serve up chaos in everything I touch)

At birth, Asteroid George was conjunct Herschel's natal Mercury at 12 Scorpio and ruling his ASC. As a result of his discovery, George III appointed him Court Astronomer.
Uranus discovery has the AS conjunct the Moon in the same spot.
I am starting to believe in astrology!

Cool!!

Ouranos wrote: Thu Sep 07, 2023 1:36 pm I am starting to believe in astrology!

I've never given much time to looking at asteroids Ouranos, but you make some interesting observations here. I might have to dabble around a bit with them here and there. In fact your responses here jogged up a memory of looking at the asteroids in relation to my radix once and finding it pretty remarkable that asteroid JASON is conjunct my ascendant ruler. How likely are the odds? On top of that, the asteroid that is my middle name is conjunct my radix MC, and my middle name is actually my mother's (10th) maiden name. And if that wasn't enough for ya, there's also an asteroid for my surname and where does it fall? Roughly 30° from the MC on the western side of the chart, while my ascendant ruler and asteroid Jason are roughly 30° before the MC in the eastern side (diurnal motion).

Yes Jason, names don't just come out of the blue.
On the cusp of my 5th conjunct Mars, I have the asteroid Saragamine. Guess the name of my daughter! Sarah and 'gamine' in French means 'little girl'.
The quick delivery service was not invented by Amazon.

Glancing at that discovery chart again, I'm struck by how dynamic that opposition is between Uranus and Mars (conjunct Saturn) combined with Regulus on the late Leo MC - that connects so well with the generally disruptive -somewhat egotistical- nature of Uranus IMO.
But I also cannot get out of my mind how much that discovery chart reminds me of the main signatures in Donald Trump's chart. The MC/Regulus of this chart aligns with his ascendant/Mars, and the Uranus-Mars opposition aligns with his eclipsed Moon opp Sun/NN/Uranus. And then there is the Uranus transit of his MC which is loosening a little now but getting active again early next year when his trials start. It's a bizarre point to make but it makes me feel that his Uranus-MC transit is especially loaded because he sings the tune of Uranus so well.

The Donald, a Scottish name meaning 'proud chief' is quite a phenomenon.
There is a modern tradition amongst astrologers to look at the Astro*Carto*Graphy of a newly elected president to see which country U.S.A will be at war during a president mandate. Having Mars rising in Washington, one can say that he was at war with his own country. No need to travel. And 2 of the countries he worshipped have Saturn over his natal Mars (North Korea and Russia - 1991 chart). Instead of the traditional 'Welcome to our country', the invite should read like 'Sir, you are under arrest'.