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In reply to the discussion: On this day in 1781, William Herschel discovered the planet [View all]Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)12. The other pale blue dot..
By the way: Herschel wanted to name his new discovery after George III. Perhaps he thought that the king needed a consolation prize.
From NASA/JPL: Uranus, as seen from the Cassini spacecraft in 2014
...Uranus is a pale blue in this natural color image because its visible atmosphere contains methane gas and few aerosols or clouds. Methane on Uranus -- and its sapphire-colored sibling, Neptune -- absorbs red wavelengths of incoming sunlight, but allows blue wavelengths to escape back into space, resulting in the predominantly bluish color seen here. Cassini imaging scientists combined red, green and blue spectral filter images to create a final image that represents what human eyes might see from the vantage point of the spacecraft.
...
Uranus was approximately 28.6 astronomical units from Cassini and Saturn when this view was obtained. An astronomical unit is the average distance from Earth to the sun, equal to 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 kilometers).
This view was acquired by the Cassini narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 614,300 miles (988,600 kilometers) from Saturn on April 11, 2014. Image scale at Uranus is approximately 16,000 miles (25,700 kilometers) per pixel. Image scale at Saturn's rings is approximately 4 miles (6 kilometers) per pixel. In the image, the disk of Uranus is just barely resolved. ...
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17178:
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I actually got to see Uranus during my astronomy lab last year.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
Mar 2019
#4
It wouldn't be able to maintain its orbital relationship because of Jupiter.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
Mar 2019
#8
I don't understand why something like Voyager couldn't see the mirror Earth?
mr_lebowski
Mar 2019
#27
Okay, so it's just because the path they were on wouldn't allow it, not that it's
mr_lebowski
Mar 2019
#34
I just brought it up cause I thought it was said above that it would be impossible to see a ME even
mr_lebowski
Mar 2019
#39
My professor taught only one theory of solar system formation in the astronomy class
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
Mar 2019
#35
There is strong suspicion that there's a Planet 9 very far out, past the Kuiper Belt.
lagomorph777
Mar 2019
#14
Uranus is the smallest gas giant in the solar system and the farthest out normally.
Blue_true
Mar 2019
#20
I think "Uranus" was a nickname for George III; he thought it was "Your Highness"
lagomorph777
Mar 2019
#15