Uranus

Greek god of the heavens. He created the Titans, who dethroned and castrated him. His blood created the Furies, and Aphrodite was created when Uranus' genitals fell into the ocean. Yeah, they never mentioned that on that "Hercules" show, did they?

Also the seventh planet in our solar system. It is the third largest of the planets. Its name makes it the butt of many bad jokes. Get it? Butt? Oh, I kill me.

uranus, and it's placement in the sky is used in astrology to describe individualism, rebellion, and freedom. because uranus spends seven years in each sign, the effects are societal, rather than personal. uranus symbolizes:

• ways in which society will rebel¹
• how society brings about change
• how society tries to be different

the placement of this planet within the zodiac will give an indication as to how society (and the individual components of that society) are expressing their independence and uniqueness . uranus is currently in aquarius.

in astrological charts, uranus is symbolized as:

              \         /
               |___|___|
               |  _|_  |
              / .'   `. \
                |  .  |
                `.___.'

---

¹ for example: uranus was in libra from 1968 - 1975. during this time period, one of the major social issues was the vietnam war. with libra symbolizing peace, love, and beauty, is it any suprise at the social movements of the time were focused on changing for the positive, and trying to effect this change with peaceful passive protests? the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement -- all were primarily non-aggressive, very libran.

Uranus:

Mass..........................1.910 x 10²⁶ lbm, 8.6635 x 10²⁵ kg
Density.......................81.2 lb/cubic foot
Mean Radius...................15,882 miles
Max Distance from Sun.........1,870,000,000 miles
Min Distance from Sun...........1,696,000,000 miles
Gravity relative to Earth ....0.89
Rotation Period.................17 h, 14 min, 24 s
Revolution time around Sun....84 years (30,365 d, 9 h, 36 min)
Orbital Velocity..............4.23 miles/second
Number of Moons.................22 -

Prospero, Stephano, Setebos, Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon.

The planet Uranus is the seventh planet in our solar system, measured in distance from the sun. It is one of the gas giants in the outer parts of our solar system, residing at a mean distance of 2.87 · 10⁹ km, with a period of revolution of little over 84 years. Uranus was discovered by German/British astronomer Sir William Herschel in 1781. It was the first new planet discovered since Babylonian astronomy and it was later discovered that the planet had been observed and recorded as a star over 20 times before it was recognized as a planet. Herschel also discovered the planet's two largest moons, Titania and Oberon. 

The planet's atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. In the center of the planet, these gases and others probably exist together with minerals and metal particles. As the distance from the center grows, they become solid, then fluids and then gaseous. Because the methane in the atmosphere, the planet looks bluish green in color; methane absorbs parts of the red spectrum. The planet has not apparent visual surface attributes, and there are not weather or other wind related patterns like on Jupiter and Saturn, even though strong winds have been observed. 

An interesting feature about Uranus is its axis of rotation. The planet is tilted at 98 degrees, which means that there's only an 8 degree angle between the axis of rotation and the plane of rotation around the sun. The planet appears to be rolling around the sun in its orbit. Uranus also has a short period of rotation, just above 17 hours, which has flattened the planet considerably, making it more elliptical than most planets. The equatorial circumference is about 2.4 % greater than the polar circumference. Also, the angle between the magnetic axis and the axis of rotation is almost 57 degrees, compared to Earth's 11 degrees. The source of the magnetic field is unknown, since there are no traces of electrically conductive oceans of molten core - which is the case of Earth. 

Uranus has 22 known moons, all of which are named after characters in Shakespeare dramas. The planet has at least 22 moons and thirteen thin rings inside the moon system.

U"ra*nus (-n&ucr;s), n. [L. Uranus, Gr. O'yrano`s Uranus, o'yrano`s heaven, sky. Cf. Uranium.]

1. Gr. Myth.

The son or husband of Gaia (Earth), and father of Chronos (Time) and the Titans.

2. Astron.

One of the primary planets. It is about 1,800,000,000 miles from the sun, about 36,000 miles in diameter, and its period of revolution round the sun is nearly 84 of our years.

⇒ This planet has also been called Herschel, from Sir William Herschel, who discovered it in 1781, and who named it Georgium Sidus, in honor of George III., then King of England.

 

© Webster 1913.