NASA asks for help studying Uranus and Neptune as it prepares to capture new images

ABC News ^ | August 18, 2023 | Mary Kekatos

[crusty old prospector]

NASA is asking amateur astronomers to help the agency study the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Next month, NASA will be observing the two planets via its New Horizons spacecraft, originally designed to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, a disc of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune and often a source of comets. Working with the Hubble Space Telescope, New Horizons plans to capture images of Uranus and Neptune in color. Because the spacecraft has passed the orbit of both planets, the images will be taken from "behind," which should provide some data regarding the atmosphere on both planets.

[Colt1851Navy]

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus and all the other sexes are from Uranus.(stolen line)

[jmcenanly]

Originally, John Herschel named it Georgium Sidus, or George's Star, after George III. The international astronomy community objected, and gave it its present name, despite warnings about what the name sounded like in English.

[jmacusa]

It’s up, Uranus!