The discovery of the rings of Uranus - An astronomy adventure personally experienced

The paper describes how observation of Uranus at far-red wavelengths during the planet's occultation of a star 3.5 magnitudes fainter led to the discovery of five rings surrounding the planet. Decreases in brightness occurring before the scheduled occultation were detected at the Perth Observatory near Bickley, Western Australia, and these decreases remained inexplicable until a study of the records showed a symmetric pattern before and after occultation by the planet. The Perth records support the planetary ring interpretation even though the planet's shadow could not be observed at Perth.