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The Formation of Uranus
The Formation of Uranus
Early Formation
Early Formation
When our Sun had just formed, it was surrounded my a disk of gas and dust. Heavy particles clumped together, and the lighter ones were pushed farther out by the solar winds. The heavy rocky materials formed the inner rocky planets, and the lighter elements formed the outer gas giants. Uranus started with a rocky core, but gathered up the lighter elements around it, making its thick atmosphere.
The Discovery of Uranus
The Discovery of Uranus
Herchel's 40 foot telescope was the largest in the world for 50 years!
An Accidental Discovery
An Accidental Discovery
Uranus has been misclassified many times throughout it's history. Uranus is a dim object, just barely visible to the naked eye. It was observed as early as 1690 by John Flamsteed, and he cataloged it as a star. It wasn't until 1881, when William Herschel was scanning the sky with his massive telescope for stars of at least magnitude 8, when he found Uranus.
Herschel noticed Uranus because it was moving across the sky in front of other stars, so he figured it must be much closer to us. Because of this, he classified it as a comet, but after he shared his discovery with other astronomers, they realized they had just found a new planet!
Why Uranus?
Why Uranus?
When Uranus was discovered, the name "Uranus" was not actually Herschel's first choice. Herschel wanted to name the planet after the King of England, King George III, so he proposed Georgium Sidus. However, not all astronomers were from England, so this did not stick. Instead, astronomers wanted to stick with the convention of naming the planets after ancient gods, so they chose the greek god Uranus, or Father Sky.
The Exploration of Uranus
The Exploration of Uranus
Voyager 2
Voyager 2
On January 24, 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 made the first - and only visit to Uranus. The spacecraft came within 50,600 miles (81,500 kilometers) of the planet's cloud tops. It discovered 10 new moons, 2 more rings, and also a magnetic field!
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