Uranus
Uranus, the third of the gas giants, was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel. He was not looking for a planet, but, "reviewing the heavens".
He identified it as not being a star because it showed a small disk. Uranus is just visable with the naked eye, and it had been seen on several occasions before Herschel's discovery.
John Flamsteed, England's first astronomer Royal, even included it in his star catalogue and gave it a number: 34 Tauri!
Uranus - Planetary Data
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Distance from Sun (millions of km):
Orbital Period (years):
Synodic period (days):
Rotational Period (equator):
Diameter (km):
Orbital eccentricity:
Orbital inclination (degrees):
Axial inclination (degrees):
Escape velocity (km/s):
Mass (Earth=1):
Volume (Earth=1):
Density (g/cm^3):
Surface gravity (Earth=1):
Surface Temp. (degrees centigrade):
Albedo:
Maximum magnitude:
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2870
84.01
369.7
17h 14m
51,118
0.047
0.8
98
22.5
14.6
67
1.27
1.17
-214
0.35
+5.6
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© 2001 Alexander Henderson
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