March 13 - Uranus is Discovered

This Day in History: 13 March 2020

 

13 March 1781

 

239 years ago, today, Uranus was discovered by astronomer William Herschel, and now is the seventh planet away from the sun. This planet discovery was the first to be made in our modern era, and the first to be made using a telescope, allowing Herschel to distinguish Uranus as a planet, and not a star, as others before him believed. Herschel was later knighted for his finding and named the planet the 'Georgian Planet' in honour of King George III. In contrast, fellow astronomer, Johann Bode, proposed the name 'Uranus', after its celestial connotations, in order to fit in with the mythology-based names of the other planets. Uranus was the ancient Greek god of the heavens, and a predecessor of the Olympian gods. Soon after, in the century, it was the generally accepted name of the planet.

 

Uranus is one of the gas giant planets, along with Jupiter and Saturn, and is a collection of hydrogen, helium, and methane. It is also the third largest planet, that orbits the sun once every 84 earthly years. As well as this, it is the only planet to spin perpendicular to its solar orbital plane. Almost 200 years after the planet's discovery, the unmanned US spacecraft, Voyager 2, visited its surface, and discovered ten more moons to the previously known five moons. A system of faint rings was also found to spin around the gas giant.

 

Want to find out more about the gas giant, Uranus? Click here to read more.