 As other objects were discovered in the neighborhood of Ceres , it was realized that Ceres represented the first of a new class of objects . In 1802 , with the discovery of 2 Pallas , William Herschel coined the term asteroid ( " star @-@ like " ) for these bodies , writing that " they resemble small stars so much as hardly to be distinguished from them , even by very good telescopes " . As the first such body to be discovered , Ceres was given the designation 1 Ceres under the modern system of minor @-@ planet designations . By the 1860s , the existence of a fundamental difference between asteroids such as Ceres and the major planets was widely accepted , though a precise definition of " planet " was never formulated . 
 As other objects <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>were</mark></a> discovered in the neighborhood of Ceres , it was realized that Ceres represented the first of a new class of objects . In 1802 , with the discovery of 2 Pallas , William Herschel<a href='been_done' title='2'><mark></mark></a> coined the term asteroid ( " star @-@ like " ) for these bodies , writing that " they resemble small stars so much as hardly to be distinguished from them , even by very good telescopes " . As the first such body to be discovered , Ceres was given the designation 1 Ceres under the modern system of minor @-@ planet designations . By the 1860s , the existence of a fundamental difference between asteroids such as Ceres and the major planets was widely accepted , though a precise definition of " planet " was never formulated . 
As other objects was discovered in the neighborhood of Ceres , it was realized dat Ceres represented the first of a new class of objects . In 1802 , with the discovery of 2 Pallas , William Herschel done coined the term asteroid ( " star @-@ like " ) for these bodies , writing that " they resemble small stars so much as hardly to b distinguished from them , even by very good telescopes " . As the first such body to be discovered , Ceres was given da designation 1 Ceres under the modern system of minor @-@ planet designations . By the 1860s , tdaexistence of a fundamental difference between asteroids such as Ceres and the major planets was widely accepted , though a precise definition of " planet " was never formulated .