Uranus ♅ Troposphere ♅ Stratosphere
Thermosphere ♅ Exosphere ♅ Outer Space


Exploring Her Planet

Uranus: The Seventh Planet from the Sun

Haruka's guardian planet is Uranus. Not only do her Sailor Soldier powers and heritage link to the planet, but so do her astrological sign and element. It was discovered on March 13, 1781 as a "comet" by a British-German astronomer named Sir William Herchel. He also theorized it could have been a nebulous star, but Herchel ultimately believed it to be a comet due to its movement in the sky.

It is to be noted, however, Uranus had been observed by many others before. Many often deemed Uranus to be a star. Known astronomers to do this are John Flamsteed and Pierre Lemonier.

Herchel reported his findings to the Royal Society and the current Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyn. Maskelyn was quick to note the celestial object acted more like a planet than a comet and it lacked a coma and tail. Despite this report, Herchel was determined his discovery was a comet. Many other astronomers made similar observations as Maskelyn, however.

Soon after this, the "comet" was considered a planet by all and eventually even Herchel acknowledged it was a planet instead in 1783. For his discovery, the reigning king at the time, George III, rewarded Herchel with a yearly salary of 200 pounds as long as he moved to Windsor so the Royal Family could use his telescopes.

When it came to christening the recently discovered planet, Herchel decided to name it in honor of his new patron, King George III. Thus, using Latin, he called the seventh planet "Georgium Sidus", which basically translates to "George's Star." His reasoning was based on the fact that the five previous planets were named by the gods of their given era of discovery. Therefore, naming it after the current reigning king of his country seemed to follow the trend.

Many astronomers outside of Great Britain found the choice unfavorable and made their own suggestions. Known proposals were Herchel, Neptune and Uranus. Uranus was the most popular suggestion and the most used.

The inspiration for the planet to be named Uranus came from mythology and its correlation with the previously discovered planets. From Mars to Saturn there was a pattern formed. In mythology Ares, the Greek equivalent to Mars, was the son of Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter. Zeus in turn was the son of Kronos, the Greek equivalent of Saturn. Strangely, as noted in the Mythology Section, Uranus is derived from the Greek god Ouranos. Cælus, the Roman equivalent, would have followed the pattern formed on a more precise level.

Ultimately, the name Uranus became universal in 1850 when the only remaining group using Georgium Sidus, the HM Nautical Almanac Office, finally decided to switch.

Pronunciation

Dictionaries Prefer: ewr-ruh-nuh-s, yoo-ray-nuh-s
Astronomers Prefer: ewr-ruh-nuh-s
Americans Prefer: yewr-ay-nuh-s
Britains Prefer: ewr-ruh-nuh-s

In Japanese the planet Uranus is called 天王星 (Ten'nōsei) and is pronounced "teh-noh-say." 天 is kanji for "Sky" or "Heavenly", 王 is kanji for "King" and 星 is kanji for "Star."

Statistics

Discovered by: William Herschel
Discovery date: March 13, 1781
Nearest to the Sun: 2735118100 km
Farthest from the Sun: 3006224700 km
Full Orbit around the Sun: 84.01 Earth Years
Axial Tilt of 97.77°
Rotation: Retrograde
Number of Rings Discovered: 13
Number of Moons Discovered: 27
Planetary Symbol: ♅

List of Rings

Zeta (1986 U2R)
6
5
4
Alpha
Beta
Eta
Gamma
Delta
Lambda (1986 U1R)
Epsilon
Nu (R/2003 U 2)
Mu (R/2003 U 1)

List of Moons

Cordelia
Ophelia
Bianca
Cressida
Desdemona
Juliet
Portia
Rosalind
Cupid
Belinda
Perdita
Puck
Mab
Miranda
Ariel
Umbriel
Titania
Oberon
Francisco
Caliban
Stephano
Trinculo
Sycorax
Margaret
Prospero
Setebos
Ferdinand

Additional Trivia

♅ North Americans are the only people who add a Y-sound to the pronunciation of Uranus' name as well as applies crude jokes to it due to this pronunciation.

♅ Like Uranus, Venus also has a retrograde rotation.

♅ Due to its axis tilt, Uranus "rolls" rather than "spins" around the sun.

♅ Many of Uranus' moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

♅ Despite its name and association to the air and sky, Uranus is not the windiest planet in our Solar System. Neptune is, with winds able to blow 2.7 times faster than the ones on Uranus.



Sources:

Uranus' Rings. SolarSystem.Nasa.Gov Uranus: Rings

Uranus' Moons. SolarSystem.Nasa.Gov Uranus: Moons