Uranus (planet)

Uranus ( from the Sun . It is a Gas Giant , the third largest by Diameter and fourth largest by Mass . It is named after Uranus , the Greek god of the sky and progenitor of the other gods. Its symbol is either ; ( Unicode U+2645, mostly astrological) or (mostly astronomical).

NASA 's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited the planet and no other visits are currently planned. Launched in 1977 , Voyager made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24 1986 before continuing on its journey to Neptune .

DISCOVERY AND NAMING

Uranus was the first planet to be discovered that was not known in ancient times; although it had been observed on many previous occasions, it was always mistakenly identified as a star. The earliest recorded sighting was in 1690 when John Flamsteed catalogued it as 34 Tauri . Flamsteed observed Uranus twice again, in 1712 and 1715 . Bradley observed it in 1748, 1750 and 1753; Mayer in 1756. Le Monnier observed it four times in 1750, twice in 1768, six times in 1769, and one last time in 1771. He was a victim of his own disorderliness: one of his observations was found consigned on a paper bag used to store hair powder.

Sir William Herschel formally discovered the planet on March 13 , 1781 , but reported it on April 26 , 1781 , as a " Comet ": ''Account of a Comet, By Mr. Herschel, F. R. S.; Communicated by Dr. Watson, Jun. of Bath, F. R. S.'', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 71, pp. 492-501.

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Uranus (planet)