Hubble takes first image of solar eclipse on Uranus

New Scientist ^ | 01 September 2006 | Maggie McKee

[RandallFlagg]

Have a nice day.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Reuter's exclusive! Looks like an Israeli space crime to me!

[PatrickHenry]

Mars is red,
Uranus is blue,
Pluto is out of it,
And so are you.

[Coastie]

The sun is really bright there, I bet you could get a sunburn on.. you know...

[Cruising Speed]

Well, they were studying clouds, not moons, so I forgive them for being surprised.

Perhaps they have just enough computer time to do their stated work--taking up more computer time to work out the positions of 27 moons that have no bearing on their work might be a violation of their grant...just guessing here, perhaps computer time is a lot more plentiful than it used to be, but I still think we need more info before trashing these stargazers as imcompetents.

[beyond the sea]

LOL

[beyond the sea]

A thinly veiled attempt by the gay coalition to detract attention from the eviction of pluto!

Pluto ....... relegated to just being man's best friend.

Not so bad.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[grey_whiskers]

Great! I bet these guys are loads of fun at parties.

"I just took this great photo of Uranus. Wanna see it?"

Cheers!

[Drammach]

Well, they were studying clouds, not moons, so I forgive them for being surprised.

You're welcome to your opinion, but I would expect better knowledge of the subject matter than that exhibited in the article..
I'll give you this.. It may have been the reporter(s) that are mis-stating the situation / circumstances..

At any rate, knowing the albedo of one of the moons and observing it for changes as it orbits behind the planet would give indication of such things as the height and density of the atmosphere and cloud cover..
Additionally, the shadow cast upon said cloud cover could also provide information on cloud height and density...

I would bet that any stars that pass behind the planet are also observed to determine atmospheric characteristics..

[Lazamataz]

solar eclipse on Uranus

Must.

Not.

Make.

Obvious.

Joke.

Must.

Not.

Make.

Obvious.

Joke.

Must.

Not.

Make.

Obvious.

Joke.

[Thoro]

I thought the P.C. crowd had the name changed of Uranus ......... to Urectum.

The protagonist, Fry, frozen in the 20th centry and unfrozen in the 31st, is using an invention called a “smelloscope” to sniff the odors given off by heavenly bodies.

Prof. Farnsworth: You’ll find that every heavenly body has its own particular scent. Here, I’ll point it at Jupiter.

[Fry sniffs.]

Fry: Smells like strawberries.

Farnsworth: Exactly! And now Saturn.

[Fry sniffs.]

Fry: Pine needles. Oh, man, this is great! Hey, as long as you don’t make me smell Uranus.

[He laughs.]

Leela: I don’t get it.

Farnsworth: I’m sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all.

Fry: Oh. What’s it called now?

Farnsworth: Urectum.

[beyond the sea]

LOL ...... is that Vonnegut?

[Thoro]

LOL ...... is that Vonnegut?

Close. :) It's from the animated science fiction comedy show Futurama.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

from: http://skytonight.com/news/home/3823426.html

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For the first time in recorded history astronomers witnessed the shadow of one of Uranus's tiny moons travel across the distant planet's cloud tops. Using the sharp vision of the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, scientists captured the tiny moon Ariel passing in front of the gas giant, casting its shadow briefly upon Uranus's azure-tinted cloud tops.

Due to the extreme tilt of Uranus's spin axis relative to its orbital plane, such events can only occur for short periods every 42 years — when Uranus is nearest the equinoxes during the planet's 84-year orbit around the Sun. In 1965, the last time such an event was visible, telescope technology wasn't advanced enough to resolve it. Currently, only the largest observatories on Earth equipped with the latest adaptive-optics technology — or orbiting observatories such as Hubble — can witness these occurrences with any clarity.

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I wonder, does this mean you can stand an egg on end on Uranus on this date?

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/egg_history.html

[Republic]

Really great to see this..thanks for the posting and pic.

[Virginia-American]

You're welcome. I knew there would be a bunch of stupid puns, but the pic really impressed me. I hope NASA has sense enough to keep the HST working; it's produced a lot more science than the space station.

[SunkenCiv]

Dark skies reveal planet Uranus
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14739540/

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 01 September 2006. Thanks Virginia-American.

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