Planet Uranus is the seventh planet in our solar system. The planet Uranus is the third largest planet in our solar system after Jupiter and Saturn.
The planet Uranus is also the fourth largest planet in this solar system. The planet Uranus has a rotation time of 17 hours 14 minutes or faster than Earth's 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the time of its revolution about the sun is quite long. According to its distance from the sun which reaches 3 billion kilometers, Planet Uranus takes 84 years.
So, what is the history of the discovery of the Planet Uranus? Where did the name given to the planet Uranus come from?
Discovery of the Planet Uranus
The ancient world community, had a limited view of the night sky. They just think that the earth is the center of the universe.
Earth has several followers, namely the moon, sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, without the planet Uranus. These celestial bodies are visible to the naked eye.
This conception was later changed when people realized that the earth is not surrounded by the universe. On the other hand, the earth is a small part of the universe.
The location of our earth is at the end of the Milky Way galaxy and our galaxy is only one of many galaxies in this universe.
That's when things changed. Earth is placed as one of the six planets orbiting the sun. There was no talk of Planet Uranus at that time.
The investigation of the Planet Uranus only started in 1690. At that time, there was a John Flamsteed who observed the Planet Uranus six times. However, at that time, Planet Uranus was not considered a planet, but only a star.
On March 13, 1781, an English astronomer, Sir William Herschel began to observe Uranus more seriously. However, at that time he thought that the planet Uranus was a comet.
The oddity arose when other researchers noticed that the orbit of the Planet Uranus was not like that of a comet, but more like a planet because its orbit is circular. In the end, it was decided that Planet Uranus was a new planet.
Along with the discovery of this new planet, a new conflict arose over the naming of the Planet Uranus. What is a suitable name for this planet?
Initially, Sir William Herschel as the discoverer of the first Planet Uranus, proposed the name Georgium Sodium. This name was used in honor of King George III. Herschell argues that in the past, people named Venus or Mars after the names of their gods.
In the modern era, there should be a change in naming. At least, if you use the name Georgium, people will easily identify that the Planet Uranus was discovered during the reign of King George III.
However, the option of the inventor was slanted by various circles. The name Georgium is not popular. Finally, a different name was decided.
An astronomer named Jerome Lalande even suggested that Herschell should be rewarded for his services in discovering the new planet. Lalande chose the name Herschell as the name of the planet.
However, this idea was again unpopular. It was only when Johann Elert Bode, an astronomer from Berlin, voiced his idea, that everyone seemed to agree. Bode chose the name Planet Uranus.
The reason is that Saturn, the sixth planet, is named after Jupiter's father, the fifth planet. So, the name of the seventh planet should be the name of Saturn's father, Uranus. Bode's proposal was then popular so that the name of the planet became Planet Uranus.
Planet Uranus and Greek Mythology
Planet Uranus name is taken from the god in Greek mythology, Uranus (in Roman mythology called Caelus). Uranus itself is a symbol of the sky. Many say that Uranus was not born.
In Greek mythology itself is told that in the beginning, there was Chaos as the starting point of the birth of the universe.
Chaos is described as the chaos or disorder of the universe. In this case, ancient Greek thinkers thought that the cosmos could not have been formed from something neat.
Rather, born of something "messy"; which is described as an infinite vast abyss, very dark, unknown, like the depths of the ocean. Chaos is believed to be the thing that gave birth to the Planet Uranus.
Chaos gave birth to five children, namely Eros, Gaia, Tartaros, Eros, Erebos, and Nyx. In this case we cannot say that this is purely a Greek myth.
Rather, this is the mindset of the Greek people at that time, the same when talking about the Planet Uranus in the context of Greek society. This thought will be very clearly seen if we look at the meanings of the five children born of Chaos.
The first two children were Erebus and Nyx. The meaning of Erebus is a symbol of darkness or the depths of the earth for people who have died.
Meanwhile, Nyx is the goddess of the night. That is, Greek society has a concept that is quite logical.
Originally, disorder (Chaos) produced nothing but the like. Because Chaos is described as the center of darkness, night and equally dense depths of the earth are born. The planet Uranus will also be "born" from Chaos.
Then, where is the position of Uranus whose name is attached to the name of the Planet Uranus? The answer is still far. Besides Nyx and Erebus, Chaos also gave birth to Eros (Love), Tartaros (Hell), and Gaia (Earth).
In this case, Eros is a rough love and tends to be sexual lust. Again, this stems from the idea that disordered Chaos cannot possibly give birth to a perfect essence.
Eros is the prototype of a more sacred love. Meanwhile, Gaia (earth) was also born from the 'womb' of Chaos. It is not explained how Gaia was raised, what is clear is that Gaia is the mother of Uranus, the god whose name will be attached to the Planet Uranus.
Uranus is the symbol of the sky. That is, Greek thinkers believed that the sky was created from the earth. This is where it gets interesting.
The planet Uranus or Uranus in Greek mythology, as in the stories that existed in ancient times, suffers from the Oedipus complex. He had intercourse with Gaia, his own mother, to give birth to 12 Titans.
Again we cannot say that the Oedipus complex here means negative or that the Greeks only direct their minds to sexual matters. Rather, the relationship between the earth and the sky, the mixing of the two elements, gives rise to various other forms.
Uranus (Planet Uranus in mythology) hates his children from Gaia. He decided to bury the children in the earth. However, Gaia did not lose her mind. He sent his youngest son, Kronos (Saturn), to fight Uranus. Kronos was able to defeat Uranus with his scythe.
It is said that Kronos castrated Saturn by cutting off the genitals of Uranus (Planet of Uranus in Greek mythology) using the sickle that Gaia gave him.
In this case, the story signifies that the sky is getting further away from the earth and is no longer involved in the mixing of the elements that make up the region between heaven and earth.
Despite his defeat, Uranus swore that the child would suffer the same fate as himself, conquered by the child himself. A tragic story for a name to be put on Planet Uranus, the seventh planet.
Planet Uranus and Shakespeare
Although the name Uranus in Planet Uranus is of Greek origin, it does not mean that Saturn is alien to modern life. This can be seen from the naming of the satellites owned by the Planet Uranus.
Uranus has 27 satellites whose names are taken from the works of two great authors, William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
The names are Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Mab, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax , Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, and Ferdinand. The five largest satellites of Planet Uranus are Oberon, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania.