The Story of the HeavensBall, Robert S. (Robert Stawell)
History
The Story of the Heavens
Ball, Robert S. (Robert Stawell)
Astronomy
Uranus is so remote that even the best of our modern telescopes cannot
make of it a striking picture. We can see, as Herschel did, that it has
a measurable disc, and from measurements of that disc we conclude that
the diameter of the planet is about 31,700 miles. This is about four
times as great as the diameter of the earth, and we accordingly see that
the volume of Uranus must be about sixty-four times as great as that of
the earth. We also find that, like the other giant planets, Uranus seems
to be composed of materials much lighter, on the whole, than those we
find here; so that, though sixty-four times as large as the earth,
Uranus is only fifteen times as heavy. If we may trust to the analogies
of what we see everywhere else in our system, we can feel but little
doubt that Uranus must rotate about an axis. The ordinary means of
demonstrating this rotation can be hardly available in a body whose
surface appears so small and so faint. The period of rotation is
accordingly unknown. The spectroscope tells us that a remarkable
atmosphere, containing apparently some gases foreign to our own, deeply
envelops Uranus.
There is, however, one feature about Uranus which presents many points
of interest to those astronomers who are possessed of telescopes of
unusual size and perfection. Uranus is accompanied by a system of
satellites, some of which are so faint as to require the closest
scrutiny for their detection. The discovery of these satellites was one
of the subsequent achievements of Herschel. It is, however, remarkable
that even his penetration and care did not preserve him from errors
with regard to these very delicate objects. Some of the points which he
thought to be satellites must, it would now seem, have been merely stars
enormously more distant, which happened to lie in the field of view. It
has been since ascertained that the known satellites of Uranus are four
in number, and their movements have been made the subject of prolonged
and interesting telescopic research. The four satellites bear the names
of Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. Arranged in order of their
distance from the central body, Ariel, the nearest, accomplishes its
journey in 2 days and 12 hours. Oberon, the most distant, completes its
journey in 13 days and 11 hours.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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