Rambling Rhodes

Blogging for Uranus, Today

LearnedFoot notes: As it so happens, tomorrow, January 24, is the 21st anniversary of Voyager 2's closest pass of the planet Uranus. . . Therefore, I am declaring tomorrow to be Blog for Uranus day. I think it would be groovy for anyone out there with a blog or ThunderJournal to write a short meditation about the importance of Uranus and what it means to you.

I'm so excited about this, I'm going to post about it a day early.

I remember when I first heard about Uranus. I was only eight years old at the time, but I remember being completely fascinated by Uranus. There was just something about it. The idea that a gaseous entity could exist in such inky blackness was deeply profound, and I immediately needed to learn everything I could about Uranus.

Uranus, it turns out, is a desolate, uninhabitable place. From a safe distance and perpective, Uranus looks harmless enough, almost serene, but make no mistake, no human being could survive long on or even near Uranus. Uranus is also surprisingly large, far larger than you'd expect. Scientists have even discovered Uranus is large enough to sport its own rings, which probably isn't a mark of pride for Uranus.

Scientists have also noted Uranus has a peculiar orientation, perhaps the result of a past collision with something similar to Uranus itself. Because of this peculiar orientation, it was difficult early on to get an unobstructed view of Uranus. In fact, most scientists will be quick to tell you they weren't at all certain what to even expect once they probed Uranus. Not surprisingly, the atmosphere around Uranus was found to be primarily methane, a flammable gas not known to be particularly stable.

Many moons have been seen coming from Uranus. At last count, as many as ten moons had been detected, clearly showing Uranus isn't in the least bit modest. Perhaps as payback for flashing its many moons, one moon may, in fact, have been heavily fractured by a violent impact, which Uranus may have deserved, in retrospect.

As for the rest of the moons of Uranus, it's been surmised methane trapped on the surface may be a contributing factor to the overall darkened appearance of the moons and ring particles, reported to be "almost uniformly gray in color."

In short, it's unlikely Uranus has ever, or will ever, be capable of supporting life in any form, but it's still a harmless entity to observe. . . from a safe distance.

Posted by Ryan at January 23, 2007 12:56 PM | TrackBack