Monday 3 October 2011

There is only one astronomy joke ...


And here it is.

The seventh planet from the Sun is the rather-unfortunately named Uranus. Some pronounce it You're-ranus. Others say Oor-anus, which is technically correct, but schoolboys (or those with a schoolboy sense of humour) delight in the question, "Can you see Uranus through a telescope?"


The answer, oddly enough, is yes - it is the blue dot above, taken through my telescope in the back garden the other night. Indeed, on a good night you can see it with the naked eye, though it was not identified as anything other than a star until 1781, when William Herschel first claimed it as a comet.

There is something awe-inspiring about knowing that this blue dot is orbiting the Sun at an average distance of 1,790,000,000 miles and takes 84 years to go once round its orbit.

There's a good close-up picture of Uranus here. Uranus has a thick atmosphere and a small rocky and icy interior. Oddly enough, it rotates sideways on to the Sun, like a ball going round a roulette wheel. It has a system of rings, visible in the fly-by photos of Voyager 2, and 27 known moons.

If you want to see another awe-inspiring pale blue dot, try this one, which is the Earth seen from beyond Uranus, taken by Voyager 1.

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6 comments:

  1. Fascinating. That must be some telescope you have John, to say nothing of the camera.
    Is astronomy just a hobby or was it a part of your pre-ministry life?

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  2. Hi Ray. Actually, the telescope is really not that fancy - a second-hand Meade ETX-105, which is a little over 4" in aperture. The optics are very good, but if I were starting again I'd spend out more on the mount and buy a telescope to match that. The inside of a Meade looks like a Swiss music box - the motors are tiny and a bit 'tinny' and when mine was serviced by Telescope House in Tunbridge Wells, the bloke there said they'd even got the wrong screws in one part. (Not that I can really blame Meade for that - who knows how it happened?).

    The camera is even more surprising - a Phillips SPC900 webcam with the lens prised out and an attachment to drop it into the eyepiece mount on the camera.

    The Phillips is a bit of a rarity these days as it uses a CCD chip which is more sensitive than the usual chips in these things. They've now stopped making them but it wasn't expensive at the time.

    I studied astronomy for a year at Uni as a course option, and have kept up an interest since early childhood.

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  3. I always think back to Patrick Moore and the day when the question, "Patrick, do you think there's life on Uranas?"

    The most esteemed chap replied, "That might be the reason I have always fidgeted so!"

    Of course he gava a fuller and more reasoned response once the laughter had subsided - a sublime English eccentric gentleman indeed.

    My ETX (4") has developed a fault and can't find time to lug LX out to garden and play - so back to bino's at the moment, but what great skies of late!

    Pax

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  4. That's brilliant, Vic. Btw, if you're near enough, Telescope House do an excellent (in my view) service package on Meades, which would probably sort out your problem. Just wish I had an LX! I see they are now in Surrey: RH7 6BA

    You're right about binoculars, though as I have a persistent hand tremor I have to mount mine on a tripod - not a bad idea anyway.

    Sometimes just a quick 'browse' of the skies is enough.

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  5. You need to take a look at this..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBwWh9qy3qw&feature=related

    You have to be over a certain age to remember it.

    Chris Bishop
    Devon

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  6. I used to LOVE space patrol - especially the funny noise the space ships used to make.

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