FACTS ABOUT URANUS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

URANUS IS THE SEVENTH PLANET FROM THE SUN

AND HAS THE THIRD-LARGEST PLANETARY RADIUS

AND FOURTH-LARGEST PLANETARY MASS IN

THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

IT IS NOT VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE AND WAS THE

FIRST PLANET DISCOVERED WITH THE USE

OF A TELESCOPE.

URANUS WAS OFFICIALLY DISCOVERED BY

SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL IN 1781.

WILLIAM HERSCHEL WAS BORN IN HANOVER, GERMANY.

HE MOVED TO ENGLAND IN 1757 IN ORDER TO PURSUE

A CAREER AS A MUSICIAN BUT AFTER BUYING A BOOK

ON ASTRONOMY HE BECAME INTERESTED ONLY IN

WATCHING THE SKY.

URANUS IS TOO DIM TO HAVE BEEN SEEN BY THE

ANCIENTS. AT FIRST HERSCHEL THOUGHT IT WAS

A COMET, BUT SEVERAL YEARS LATER IT WAS

CONFIRMED TO BE A PLANET.

THE NAME COMES FROM THE ANCIENT GREEK DEITY

OURANOS, THE EARLIEST SUPREME GREEK GOD

OF THE HEAVENS WHOSE SONS WERE THE GIANTS

AND TITANS.

HOWEVER, HERSCHEL TRIED TO HAVE HIS DISCOVERY

NAMED “GEORGIAN SIDUS” AFTER KING GEORGE III.

THE NAME URANUS WAS SUGGESTED BY

ASTRONOMER JOHANN BODE.

THE PLANET ROTATES IN A RETROGRADE DIRECTION,

OPPOSITE OF THE WAY EARTH AND MOST OTHER

PLANETS TURN.

AND BECAUSE URANUS LIES ON ITS SIDE AS IT ORBITS THE SUN, FOR NEARLY A QUARTER OF ITS ORBIT ONE OF ITS POLES IS IN COMPLETE DARKNESS