This is the story of the discovery of the dwarf planet Ceres in 1801. It was discovered by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, who was the director of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory. Piazzi had been searching for a new planet between the orbits of Mars and
Ceres is a dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first object identified in the asteroid belt, discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily, and announced as a new planet. Ceres was later classified as an asteroid, and then more recently as the only confirmed dwarf planet within the asteroid belt, and the largest without a moon. In the minor planet numbering system, its designation is 1 Ceres or (1) Ceres.