Astronomy
When the physical characteristics of any of the planets in
the solar system are examined even superficially, it soon becomes clear that
they are all unique in some way. Such study makes it nearly impossible to confuse
tiny sun-baked Mercury, for instance, for any other heavenly body.
However, some planets are strange in ways that are difficult
to remember. Others, like Uranus, have oddities that set them firmly in one’s
memory. Less than half the diameter of Saturn and a little over one-third the
diameter of Jupiter, Uranus has many characteristics that make it resemble
these “gas giants.” Indeed, its diameter and mass closely resemble those of its
neighbor Neptune. But that oddity sticks in one’s mind. Unlike all the other
planets, Uranus “spins on its side.” Some people suspect that this anomaly is
the result of a massive collision or near-collision with some heavenly body.
Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to fly past the planet:
thanks to that, we learned of eleven additional moons. Recent developments in
space-based astronomy have turned up quite a few more. Even the many plays of
Shakespeare (and poems of Alexander Pope) were hard-pressed to provide names
for all the satellites circling this planet, which has been found to have
approximately 21 at this date. Only five of them were large enough to have been
known prior to the Voyager flyby.
Uranus has rings, like Saturn and Jupiter, and has a
hydrogen and helium atmosphere. Unlike those two planets, however, it is
believed to be composed mostly of “rocks and water.” Vast amounts of water
comprise the bulk of Uranus’ mass, and that water is in liquid form at
something like 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 6,650 degrees Celsius, at
pressures approaching 5 million times the sea-level atmospheric pressure of the
earth. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus doesn’t radiate more heat than it
takes in from the Sun.
It is interesting to consider that the watery composition of
Uranus was likely unknown at the time when it was being given rulership of the
sign Aquarius (“the water-bearer”) by modern astrologers.
It takes 84.011 years for Uranus to circle the Sun, but only
17.25 hours for it to turn on its axis. Thus, one year on Uranus consists of
something like 42,657 Uranian days, if I did my math right, or 30,588.74 earth
days, as reported by the astronomers (whose math I trust much better than my
own). Uranus has a magnetic field about as strong as that of the earth, and a
relatively circular orbit. However, night and day are another oddity, and for
many years during Uranus’ orbit, one pole never sees sunlight while the other
side is never truly dark. After a transition period, the situation is reversed.
Astrological Symbolism
Since Uranus is a modern planet, officially discovered by
William Herschel on March 13, 1781, its uses are still matters of occasional
controversy in Western astrology, and it is used only provisionally (if at all)
in Vedic astrology. After its discovery, research showed that Uranus had been
sighted years earlier. For instance, in 1690, astronomer John Flamsteed labeled
it as a star.
Even its name remained a matter of controversy for a
considerable period of time. Herschel wanted to name it “Georgium Sidus” (the
Georgian Planet) to honor his patron George III of England. Post-Revolutionary
Americans referred to it as “Herschel.” It was only after the name proposed by
the astronomer Bode came into general use that it was normally referred to as
Uranus. In some quarters it is still referred to as “Herschel.” The accepted
pronunciation of Uranus is “YOOR a nus,” which neatly avoids some of the rather
untidy associations other ways of saying the name inspire.
All of this is fitting, in that many consider the planet to
be a harbinger of intellectual revolutions, eccentricity, genius, electricity,
science, and so on. Its effects in an individual chart are often drastic and
difficult, as are the effects of the other “transpersonal” (and
trans-Saturnian) planets. Sudden change is one of the characteristics of a Uranian
contact, so it is associated with earthquakes and accidents of many kinds. Many
of the insights spurred by Uranus, and the rebellions associated with it, fall
outside the social norms. Some people (who go too far, I think) have even
labeled it “the queer planet,” and attempt use it as THE definitive indicator
of alternative sexual orientations and preferences. It is the planet of
invention and innovation according to some, and the computer revolution is a
quintessential expression of its energies, which are impersonal and
far-reaching.
As for rulerships, Uranus is considered by many to rule the
sign Aquarius (replacing Saturn in that role), and is considered to be the
“higher octave” of the planet Mercury. Whatever else may be said about the
energies it imparts, they can be said to be highly mental. Some people believe
that Uranus contacts confer psychic gifts; others vehemently respond that it
simply speeds up and enhances the normal thought processes so that the results
seem uncanny, but nothing “psychic” has taken place. Here again Uranus is in
its natural element of controversy and the unusual, “spinning on its side” for
lo, these many years.
The association of Uranus with the Saturn-ruled sign
Aquarius is interesting for several reasons, chief among them is that Uranus is
described in ways that make it seem more allied with chaos and sudden change,
whereas Saturn’s effects are generally perceived as slower and more orderly
expressions of the laws of cause and effect. Do you like your disasters to take
place slowly (Saturn) or quickly (Uranus)? The disparity in the symbolism of
these two planets has led some to feel that it is either simply the co-ruler of
the sign associated with it, or it is still associated in some ways with the
“old” sign ruler. Similar thinking applies to the other outer planets and their
assignment to sign rulerships.
Mythology
In the beginning, it seems, there was only the “sky god”
(Uranus) and the “earth goddess” (Gaea), who were “married.” From their union
sprang the Titans and a whole series of monstrosities (Cyclopes and 100-handed
giants). Cronus (see Saturn) led the Titans in a revolt against Uranus and set
himself up as king of heaven. In addition, he castrated his father. . The
severed genitals fell into the sea, and re-emerged as the goddess Aphrodite.
The blood from that act, when it fell to earth, created the Furies (Erinyes),
beings whose special task is to avenge the crimes of perjury and
father-killing. The Furies play an important part in the myths of Oedipus and
others. If Uranus was ever an object of worship is not clear; he was not
worshiped in historical times.
Uranus Astronomical Data
Distance from Sun
|
1,784,000,000
miles
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Diameter
|
31,763 miles
|
Radius @ 1 bar level, in km
|
Equatorial:
25,559
Polar: 24,973
|
Mass (Earth = 1)
|
14.53 (or
86.832 x 1024 kg)
|
Mean Density (water = 1)
|
1.29
|
Angle of Orbit
|
0.774
|
Sidereal Orbit (days)
|
30,685.4 (or
84.011 years)
|
Tropical Orbit (days)
|
30,588.74 (or
83.759 years)
|
Length of Day (hours)
|
17.24
|
Obliquity to Orbit (“tilt”)
|
97.77 (compare
this with earth’s 23.45 degrees)
|
Number of Rings
|
Approximately
11, ranging in width from 1 km to 500 km (as of year 2000, c.e.)
|
Number of Moons
|
21, with radii
ranging from 13 km to 761 km (as of year 2000, c.e.)
|
Moons of Uranus
(in approx. discovery date order)
Name
|
Date Discovered
|
Discovered By:
|
Distance (000 km)
|
Radius (km)
|
Titania
|
1787
|
Herschel
|
436
|
789
|
Oberon
|
1787
|
Herschel
|
583
|
761
|
Ariel
|
1851
|
Lassell
|
191
|
579
|
Umbriel
|
1851
|
Lassell
|
266
|
585
|
Miranda
|
1948
|
Kuiper
|
130
|
236
|
Puck
|
1985
|
Voyager 2
|
86
|
77
|
Cordelia
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
50
|
13
|
Ophelia
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
54
|
16
|
Bianca
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
59
|
22
|
Cressida
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
62
|
33
|
Desdemona
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
63
|
29
|
Juliet
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
64
|
42
|
Portia
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
66
|
55
|
Rosalind
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
70
|
27
|
Belinda
|
1986
|
Voyager 2
|
75
|
34
|
Sycorax
|
1997
|
Nicholson
|
12213
|
80
|
Caliban
|
1999
|
Gladman
|
7169
|
40
|
Sycorax
|
1999
|
Gladman
|
7948
|
15
|
Prospero
|
1999
|
Holman
|
16568
|
20
|
Setebos
|
1999
|
Kavelaars
|
17681
|
20
|
1986U10
|
1999
|
Karkoschka
|
76
|
40
|
Copyright: Clarke Fountain
Bio: Clarke Fountain
Clarke Fountain has been studying astrology with varying levels of intensity since the 1960s, is a U.S. Navy veteran, and gave his first professional reading in 1977 in San Francisco. After years of doing every kind of job under the sun, he earned an M.A. in Buddhist Studies from the Naropa Institute (as it was then called) in 1989 and at that time became involved with aspects of publishing. Astrology has been one of the few consistent threads in his otherwise extremely varied life, and he is delighted to have the opportunity to serve the astrological community as the Editor for “Astro Talk Online Astrological Magazine.”
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