Uranus is undoubtedly essentially the most oddly named planet in our Solar System, however issues might have been worse. After all, being the one Greek god in a sky stuffed with Romans is one factor; sounding like a butt is one other; however a planet known as George would simply be foolish.
Still, that’s what we nearly had. Yes, actually.
The discovery of Planet George
In March 1781, in Bath, England, the astronomer William Herschel grew to become the primary individual to acknowledge what we now name Uranus as a planet. It was a history-making discovery in a number of methods: most notably, it was the primary planet found with the usage of a telescope – whereas it may be seen with the bare eye, it’s too dim and slow-moving for earlier observers to have acknowledged it as a planet relatively than a distant star.
It additionally close to doubled the dimensions of the identified Solar System – and arrange the argument for potential planets even additional out. “Psychologically, the case for the orbit of Saturn representing the outermost restrict of the affect of the Sun had been compelling previous to 1781, since no new planets had ever been found, even following 150 years of telescopic commentary,” wrote Chris Linton, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Loughborough University, in his 2004 e book From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy.
“But if there have been extra planets than these seen with the bare eye, why just one?” he defined. “The chance that there have been extra planets ready to be found needed to be taken critically.”
Perhaps essentially the most materials change introduced by Herschel’s discovery, although, was for Herschel himself. In recognition of his achievement, the then-King, George III – the “mad” one who misplaced the Americas – rewarded him with a wholesome pension. It was sufficient for the novice astronomer to go full-time, finally “rework[ing] the starry heavens from a static backdrop […] into an unlimited dynamic area during which stars developed from clouds of nebulous materials,” Linton wrote. “In so doing he grew to become the pioneer of recent sidereal astronomy.”
Naming rights
As the discoverer of the brand new planet, Herschel was invited by his scientific colleagues to provide you with the identify for it – a call they might quickly remorse. In thanks for his newly elevated standing, Herschel determined to call his new planet in honor of his royal patron, calling it Georgium Sidus, or “George’s Star”.
It was an unpopular choice for a couple of causes. First of all, Uranus is not a star – in truth, that was sort of the entire purpose Herschel’s discovery was vital. But extra importantly, George III’s repute outdoors of Britain was not what you’d name universally optimistic: within the new United States, he was thought to be a tyrant; in the meantime “the French, preferring to keep away from any reference to the monarch who nonetheless claimed the French throne in pretense, known as the article ‘Herschel’ on the suggestion of Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande, who wished to honor the discoverer,” defined astronomer John C Barentine in his 2015 e book The Lost Constellations: A History of Obsolete, Extinct, Or Forgotten Star Lore.
Other scientists weighed in with solutions: “The Swedish astronomer Erik Prosperin […] proposed ‘Neptune,’ which noticed some common help,” Barentine famous – value stating that the true Neptune hadn’t but been found, so this wouldn’t have been as complicated because it sounds – whereas the Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli favored “Hypercronius”, which means “above Saturn”. Still, others proposed “Cybele”, in reference to Saturn’s spouse, or “Oceanus”, after the mythological river surrounding the Earth.
Eventually, it was the German astronomer Johann Bode’s suggestion of Uranus – Saturn’s father, and thus Jupiter’s grandfather, in Greco-Roman mythology – that took off. By rights, it ought to have been “Caelus”, in step with the totally Roman planetary pantheon, however for no matter purpose, Bode was actually into Uranus: he constructed an in depth star map that he titled Uranographia in 1801, and would later encourage his colleague Martin Klaproth to call his newly found component “uranium”.
Herschel, nonetheless, wasn’t too impressed with the identify. While there’s no proof to the declare that he responded to the moniker with the derisive “Uranus? Mein Arsch”, he “all the time referred to it because the ‘Georgian planet’,” Linton wrote, “and that is the way it was identified in Britain for a few years.”
And once we say “a few years”, we’re speaking… a lot longer than you could be pondering. As late because the mid-Nineteenth century, the UK’s Royal Nautical Almanac Office was nonetheless holding out hopes that “Planet George” would possibly catch on – ultimately giving up and accepting the identify Uranus solely in 1850.
A notice on pronunciation
So, finally, we have been robbed of a planet named George – however not less than we bought a ton of enjoyable cosmological puns in return. But on that notice – simply how do you pronounce Uranus in any case?
“In most languages, it’s probably not a difficulty,” famous The Planetary Society’s Planetary Report in September 2022. “In English, nonetheless, the favored pronunciation ‘your-AY-nuss’ offers all-too-fertile floor for jokes and tends to distract from the majesty and dignity of the planet itself.”
“But there’s a frequent different: ‘YOOR-un-us’,” the article added. “This is the way you’ll usually hear it pronounced by scientists, and it’s the pronunciation that NASA formally endorses.”
It’s much less humorous, and due to this fact arguably much less distracting – however is it much less appropriate? Well, the deity that the planet is called after was technically not “Uranus”, however “Ouranos” – or within the authentic Ancient Greek, Οὐρανός. And sadly for proponents of both English pronunciation, that sounds sort of like “oo-rah-NOSS” greater than any play on phrases about butts or peeing.
So, subsequent time some snooty scientist tells you off for laughing on the identify of the seventh planet, be happy to tell them that their pronunciation is simply as deceptive. And, in any case, the planet’s actual identify is George in any case.
