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To: Johnny Shear
Yes the big U was found to have rings on a probe flyby 20 yrs or so ago...
Big blue storm - Neptune
Comet chunks impacted Jupiter
26 posted on 12/31/2002 5:56:34 AM PST by texson66
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To: texson66; Johnny Shear
I thought they discovered the rings of Uranus by way of a chance observation of an event called an "occultation," in which a star passes behind another object and disappears from view for a period of time. This kind of thing is common with the moon because it is so close, but is less common with the planets.

I seem to recall reading that someone was observing such an event with Uranus about 20 years ago, but when the star passed behind Uranus it didn't just disappear like it normally would. It flickered briefly and then brightened again before it disappeared, then did the same thing when it re-emerged on the other side of the planet. This is what led to speculation that there was a ring around the planet that had never been seen before.

43 posted on 12/31/2002 7:22:15 AM PST by Alberta's Child
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