Named after the Greek god of the sky, the planetUranuswas discovered by the famous astronomer William Herschel in 1781. Too dim for the ancient scientists to see with the naked eye, it was the first planet to be located using a telescope. As a result, Uranus was thought at first to be...
Uranus (as it was called commonly after 1850 or so) was named after the Greek sky deity Ouranos, the earliest of the lords of the heavens. It is the only planet to be named after a Greek god rather than a Roman one. Before the name was settled on, many names had been proposed...
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The largest unnamed planet in the solar system has recently been named after the Chinese water god Gonggong by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This is the first and only dwarf planet in the solar system that has a Chinese name, according to the Na...
Uranus, named after the Greek god of the sky and father to Saturn. Test your understanding with our Planet Uranus Quiz Planet Neptune Neptune, a deep sea-blue colour, named after the Roman god of the sea. Test your understanding with our Planet Neptune Quiz ...
It was named "34 Tauri". Uranus rotates on its side like Pluto. Uranus is the only planet to be named after a Greek god, not a Roman one. How big is the planet? Comparison of the size of Uranus and the Earth Uranus is 51,118 km or about four Earths wide. It is the third...
Herschel named the planet Uranus after the Greek god of the sky, and his discovery marked the beginning of a new era in our understanding of the Solar System. Left: 1785 portrait of William Herschel by the English portrait painter Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760/61 – 5 December 1803). Right:...
After its discovery in 1846, it was suggested that Neptune be named after the Roman god of the sea. In the early 20th century, this name was confirmed after astronomers learned of Neptune’s watery interior. Poseidon, the Greek counterpart of Neptune, who is pictured as a bearded and majest...
Hesiod, Theogony 378 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) : "And Eos (Dawn) bare to Astraios (Astraeus, the Starry) the strong-hearted Anemoi (Winds) . . . a goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia [Eos] bare the star Eosphorus (Dawn...
The planet Venus is named after the Greek Goddess Aphrodite who represented everything that was beautiful. In Astrology and for horoscope purposes the influence of Venus is used to identify grace and creativity within a personality. It also highlights levels of a person's kindness, sensitivity and...
He discovered Deimos the next night, and Phobos six days after that. He named the moons after the sons of the Greek war god Ares — Phobos means "fear," while Deimos means "rout." Image of Phobos captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of ...