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Dim But Visible: Seeking Out Uranus

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Bianca
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« on: October 03, 2008, 09:24:57 am »










Fortuitous find


The British astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus on March 13, 1781, noting that it was moving slowly through the constellation Gemini. Initially, however, Herschel thought he had discovered a new comet.


Soon the name of Herschel became known over all of Europe together with the news of his discovery. King George III, who loved the sciences, had the astronomer presented to him, and bestowed upon him a life pension and a residence at Slough, in the neighborhood of Windsor Castle.


Eventually it was determined that Herschel's "comet" was, in fact, a new planet. For a while, it actually bore Herschel's name. Herschel himself proposed the name Georgium Sidus — "The Star of George," after his benefactor. However, the custom of using mythological names ultimately prevailed and the new planet was finally christened Uranus. Prior to its discovery, the outermost planet was considered to be Saturn, named for the ancient god of time and destiny, but Uranus was the father of Saturn and considered the most ancient deity of all.


It probably was for all for the best. After all, if Herschel's request was granted, just think of how we might have listed the planets in order from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and . . . George?






Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium.

He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an
on-camera meteorologist for

News 12 Westchester, New York.
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