Official telescopic confirmation of Neptune's presence in our solar system came on September 23, 1846, and it was a big deal partly because Neptune is the only planet in our solar system not visible with the naked eye. Credit for this discovery inspired a dust-up in the international astronomy community, as scientists from both Britain and France claimed they had been the first to predict the existence and position of the eighth and most-distant planet in our solar system before it was seen through a telescope. Eventually peace was brokered, and credit is now shared between the two factions.
Neptune is known, astronomically, as an 'ice giant'—a planet composed of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The other ice giant in our solar system is Uranus.
