Posted on 08/27/2015 11:24:07 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Uranus, which takes its name from the Greek God of the sky, is a gas giant and the seventh planet from our Sun. It is also the third largest planet in our Solar System, ranking behind Jupiter and Saturn. Like its fellow gas giants, it has many moons, a ring system, and is primarily composed of gases that are believed to surround a solid core.
Though it can be seen with the naked eye, the realization that Uranus is a planet was a relatively recent one. Though there are indications that it was spotted several times over the course of the past two thousands years, it was not until the 18th century that it was recognized for what it was. Since that time, the full-extent of the planet’s moons, ring system, and mysterious nature have come to be known.
Discovery and Naming: Like the five classic planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – Uranus can be seen without the aid of a telescope. But due to its dimness and slow orbit, ancient astronomers believed it to be a star. The earliest known observation was performed by Hipparchos, who recorded it as a star in his star catalog in 128 BCE – observations which were later included in Ptolemy’s Almagest.
The earliest definite sighting of Uranus took place in 1690 when English astronomer John Flamsteed – the first Astronomer Royal – spotted it at least six times and cataloged it as a star (34 Tauri). The French astronomer Pierre Lemonnier also observed it at least twelve times between the years of 1750 and 1769.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
“Damn near kilt him!”
As big as Neptune and Uranus are, they are still too small to have the gravity-pressure to form metallic Hydrogen in the mantle like Saturn and Jupiter.
AND to join the frivolity here, Uranus is also unique in that its axis is 90 degrees off plane so instead of spinning around in its orbit, it just keeps on rolling along!
“in 128 BCE”
IE, “before the Common Era”.
this avoids having to say, “Before Christ” (which, if he was who he said he was, was a far more important division of time than anything else)
“Then where the hell is my pen?”
Wrapped in clouds of methane. Right. Got it.
I’ve been called a gas giant from time to time...
Phew! That wing of the solar system is now CLOSED!
IE, “before the Common Era”.
Maybe we should call that "Before the Christian Epoch."
Uranus. Uranus. Uranus.
I never had a problem with the other pronunciation (picture here 30 little kids with Oklahoma accents all saying it the other way in science class to get the full effect...) myself and didn't understand why she had to be so emphatic and intractable about it...
One of the two best teachers I ever had, depending on the conversation.
It’s up... Uranus!
Here’s the kicker: Uranus(*chuckle*) rotates on it’s side, having been whacked into early in it’s history by some massive object. So my questions are, how does a sphere have a side and how do you knock a gaseous object on it’s side?
Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD. Sometimes Uranus is in a sling.
> It is also the third largest planet in our Solar System, ranking behind Jupiter and Saturn.
It isn’t. It’s ‘only’ 84.8% the mass of Neptune.
That’s what I was thinking. It should have been pretty obvious in the ecliptic plane?
Freegards
what the puck? someone had to ask it....!
DO NOT approach from the rear.
It’s possible that some time in our history we will
learn to mine the gas giants.
Obama to Mooshell:
“Uranus has a lot of gas. I can live with that. But ICE is a whole other thing!”
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