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That’s crazy to hear. To me, after Saturn, Uranus is the most famous planet with rings because it’s vertical instead of horizontal. That’s the defining feature

That’s crazy to hear. To me, after Saturn, Uranus is the most famous planet with rings because it’s vertical instead of horizontal. That’s the defining feature of Uranus.

ykonstant 3y ago
For me it is precisely because I always had in mind the "featureless blue sphere" picture in mind, and never bothered to look deeper. Goes to show how important images are in the public sphere.
dustincoates 3y ago
It's exactly why Uranus was my favorite planet growing up. It was such an outlier, which, if I dig farther into my psyche, probably aligned well with my self view as the only kid in my class who geeked out on space.
- euroderf 3y ago
  Speaking of Psyche (and mythology), the names of Uranus's moons are excellent.
User23 3y ago
To me, after Saturn, Uranus is the most famous planet with rings because of toilet humor. As an aside, either get or borrow a decent telescope and see the rings of Saturn and the Galilean Moons for yourself. It’s a really neat experience and gives you a direct personal shared experience with the birth of modern astronomy.
- davely 3y ago
  Seeing Jupiter, its Great Red Spot, and a line of dots representing 4 of its largest moons, as well as Saturn and its rings through a telescope at a backyard astronomy event when I was a kid was such a ridiculously cool experience. Granted, I was a huge space dork.
onetimeuse92304 3y ago
The defining feature of Uranus is that its axis of rotation is at almost right angle to the axis of rotation of Solar system. The rings just conform to that axis of rotation along with moons and such. Also, rings are thought to be relatively recent feature of Uranus (on the order of hundreds of millions of years).
- rebolek 3y ago
  IIRC, Saturn's rings are also relatively recent feature. If you think about it, what a time to be alive! Saturn and Uranus have rings and Sun and Moon are in so precious position, that we can experience total eclipse (this won't last too long also, relative to age of Solar system).
  - AlecSchueler 3y ago
    Makes me curious what past/future aspects of our solar system we would have considered special had we been alive then.
    - jackcosgrove 3y ago
      Liquid water oceans on Mars are believed to have existed in the past.
    - onetimeuse92304 3y ago
      If it makes you feel better, outer planets with all their moons will be in habitable zone for a short time when our Sun will reach red giant stage in some billions of years.
  - Vicinity9635 3y ago
    "the appalachian mountains are older than saturn’s rings. the appalachian mountains are older than dinosaurs. the appalachian mountains are older than trees. the appalachian mountains are literally older than BONES. the appalachian mountains should be regarded with pure terror."

That’s crazy to hear. To me, after Saturn, Uranus is the most famous planet with rings because it’s vertical instead of horizontal. That’s the defining feature of Uranus.

ykonstant 3y ago

For me it is precisely because I always had in mind the "featureless blue sphere" picture in mind, and never bothered to look deeper. Goes to show how important images are in the public sphere.

dustincoates 3y ago

It's exactly why Uranus was my favorite planet growing up. It was such an outlier, which, if I dig farther into my psyche, probably aligned well with my self view as the only kid in my class who geeked out on space.

euroderf 3y ago
Speaking of Psyche (and mythology), the names of Uranus's moons are excellent.

User23 3y ago

To me, after Saturn, Uranus is the most famous planet with rings because of toilet humor. As an aside, either get or borrow a decent telescope and see the rings of Saturn and the Galilean Moons for yourself. It’s a really neat experience and gives you a direct personal shared experience with the birth of modern astronomy.

davely 3y ago
Seeing Jupiter, its Great Red Spot, and a line of dots representing 4 of its largest moons, as well as Saturn and its rings through a telescope at a backyard astronomy event when I was a kid was such a ridiculously cool experience. Granted, I was a huge space dork.

onetimeuse92304 3y ago

The defining feature of Uranus is that its axis of rotation is at almost right angle to the axis of rotation of Solar system. The rings just conform to that axis of rotation along with moons and such. Also, rings are thought to be relatively recent feature of Uranus (on the order of hundreds of millions of years).

rebolek 3y ago
IIRC, Saturn's rings are also relatively recent feature. If you think about it, what a time to be alive! Saturn and Uranus have rings and Sun and Moon are in so precious position, that we can experience total eclipse (this won't last too long also, relative to age of Solar system).
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Makes me curious what past/future aspects of our solar system we would have considered special had we been alive then.
  - jackcosgrove 3y ago
    Liquid water oceans on Mars are believed to have existed in the past.
  - onetimeuse92304 3y ago
    If it makes you feel better, outer planets with all their moons will be in habitable zone for a short time when our Sun will reach red giant stage in some billions of years.
- Vicinity9635 3y ago
  "the appalachian mountains are older than saturn’s rings. the appalachian mountains are older than dinosaurs. the appalachian mountains are older than trees. the appalachian mountains are literally older than BONES. the appalachian mountains should be regarded with pure terror."