From ask Yahoo:
Uranus was discovered by William Herschel on March 13, 1781. Apparently the silly goose first thought he'd found a comet. Imagine -- mistaking Uranus for a humungous flying object (two). According to Wikipedia, Herschel dubbed it Georgium Sidus in honor of King George III of Great Britain. He later changed the name to Georgian Planet, but neither moniker worked outside the United Kingdom.
To give the newly discovered planet global appeal, astronomers around the world submitted suggestions, including Astraea, Cybele, Hypercronius, Minerva, and Urscrotum (just kidding about that last one). The name of Uranus, the Greek god of the sky, emerged victorious, thanks to German astronomer and unintentional comedian Johann Elert Bode.
As far as we can tell, there was no official meeting where people voted on the name Uranus. Over the course of several years, the name just sort of became the default. Little did Bode know his perfectly innocent suggestion would launch a thousand bad sitcom puns and science class giggles.
While we may never see Uranus up close (four), that's probably a blessing in disguise considering the planet's gaseous makeup.
No comments:
Post a Comment