Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus, who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronus (Saturn).
It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" to distinguish them from the other giant planets.
Discovery
Like the classical planets, Uranus is visible to the naked eye, but it was never recognised as a planet by ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit. Before its recognition as a planet, Uranus had been observed on numerous occasions, albeit generally misidentified as a star. The earliest possible known observation was by Hipparchus, who in 128 BC might have recorded it as a star for his star catalogue that was later incorporated into Ptolemy's Almagest.
William Herschel first observed Uranus on 13 March 1781. When he presented his discovery to the Royal Society, he continued to assert that he had found a comet, but also implicitly compared it to a planet. The object was soon universally accepted as a new planet. In recognition of his achievement, King George III gave Herschel an annual stipend of £200 (equivalent to £30,000 in 2023) on condition that he moved to Windsor so that the Royal Family could look through his telescopes.
Moons and rings
Uranus has 28 known natural satellites. The names of these satellites are chosen from characters in the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five main satellites are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon.
The Uranian rings are composed of extremely dark particles, which vary in size from micrometers to a fraction of a meter. Thirteen distinct rings are presently known, the brightest being the ε ring. All except the two rings of Uranus are extremely narrow—they are usually a few kilometers wide. The rings are probably quite young.
Visibility from earth
The mean apparent magnitude of Uranus is 5.68 with a standard deviation of 0.17, while the extremes are 5.38 and 6.03. This range of brightness is near the limit of naked eye visibility. Much of the variability is dependent upon the planetary latitudes being illuminated from the Sun and viewed from the Earth.
At opposition, Uranus is visible to the naked eye in dark skies, and becomes an easy target even in urban conditions with binoculars.
Exploration
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Uranus on 24 January 1986, coming within 81,500 km (50,600 mi) of the cloudtops, before continuing its journey to Neptune. The spacecraft studied the structure and chemical composition of Uranus's atmosphere, including its unique weather, caused by its extreme axial tilt. It made the first detailed investigations of its five largest moons and discovered 10 new ones. Voyager 2 examined all nine of the system's known rings and discovered two more.
No other spacecraft has flown by Uranus since then, though there have been many proposed missions to revisit the Uranus system.
Astrology
In astrology, Uranus rules surprise and all things unexpected. It also rules the future and new technology, including all that is newly invented and all that is unimagined and yet to come. It is the "father" of electricity.
Innovative, unpredictable, resourceful, imaginative, idiosyncratic and experimental, Uranus also rules creativity and scientific genius. Uranus’s job is to break rules and demolish established patterns or structures, creating sudden-even radical-change. Uranus always works in sudden ways, and is called the Great Awakener.
Uranus gives a strong impulse for rebellion, independence, and even shock. Exciting and liberating, Uranus will overturn anything traditional, conventional or orthodox that it deems has outlived its usefulness.
This planet produces quick, liberating results, blending fact with intuition in its quest to discover universal truths. Uranus is considered the higher octave of intellectual Mercury, and is strongly objective and brainy, with no emotional side. Those people with strong Uranian influences in their charts are trailblazers and forerunners in their communities.
Since Uranus also holds sway over social change, it also regulates the global brotherhood of man and all humanitarian concerns, including environmental issues. Uranus rules the sign of Aquarius.
This planet stays in a sign for seven years and therefore takes 84 years to circle the zodiac.