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The Most Detailed Images of Uranus' Atmosphere Ever

Posted by Unknown on from the home-of-the-frost-giants dept.

New submitter monkeyhybrid writes "The Planetary Society's Emily Lakdawalla reports on the most detailed images of Uranus ever taken. The infrared sensitivity of the ground based Keck II telescope's NIRC2 instrument enabled astronomers to see below the high level methane based atmosphere that has hampered previous observations, and with unprecedented clarity. If you ever thought Uranus was a dull blue looking sphere then look again; you could easily mistake these images for being of Jupiter!"

105 comments

  1. Must... Resist... by Ashenkase · · Score: 5, Funny

    Forthcoming... Joke...

    1. Re:Must... Resist... by fsck1nhippies · · Score: 4, Funny

      The methane in the atmosphere is causing swassal warming!

    2. Re:Must... Resist... by fsck1nhippies · · Score: 0

      Could not resist... Sorry!

    3. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Blazing Planets.

    4. Re:Must... Resist... by PlusFiveTroll · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Hey doc... I can smell Uranus!"
      "Oh, I'm sorry Fry, scientists renamed Uranus years ago to rid the earth of that stupid joke once and for all. Now it's called Urectum!"

    5. Re:Must... Resist... by JustOK · · Score: 2, Funny

      Urectum? Dammed near killed him.

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    6. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      What an asshole.

    7. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      The person who did this study not only looked through the cloud of methane gas at outer reaches of uranus, he first had to look past the rings that surround uranus. I doubt he found that a very comical job, I certainly see little that's funny about it.

    8. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      ...not long after the last neckbeard at GIMP died, and it was finally renamed GAESLAVE.

      History didn't even bother to record the backronyms for either.

    9. Re:Must... Resist... by MoogMan · · Score: 0

      *braces self for goatse picture*

    10. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      I heard it used to be called Ouranus....Ouranus,Uranaus,is Myanus is next?

    11. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      goatse had a detailed image for a long time.

    12. Re:Must... Resist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Killed him already ... our distant relative, Homo urectus.

  2. Not sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    how you got pictures near my anus, but I'm glad they came out nice...

  3. #insert "YourAnusJoke.h" by jmcbain · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Preemptive "stop it, you immature clod."

    1. Re:#insert "YourAnusJoke.h" by dmbasso · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's quite clear you're used to inserting in YourAnus.h, but I believe you really meant to #include it.

      --
      `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
    2. Re:#insert "YourAnusJoke.h" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't be an anus.

    3. Re:#insert "YourAnusJoke.h" by afaik_ianal · · Score: 2

      And for some reason, I has a strange compulsion to reply to this.

    4. Re:#insert "YourAnusJoke.h" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Look at the second part of his username, people.

  4. Ha ha ha... by tnyquist83 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't lie, as soon as I saw the headline "Most detailed image of Uranus..." on my FB feed, I began chuckling to myself. I know, I'm a child.

    1. Re:Ha ha ha... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention "the high level methane based atmosphere" \o/

    2. Re:Ha ha ha... by Brad1138 · · Score: 1

      Now that you mention it, I "like" /. on FB but haven't seen anything from them in months... why would that be?

      --
      If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
    3. Re:Ha ha ha... by tnyquist83 · · Score: 2

      From what I hear, unless you add a "liked" page to an interest list, it won't show up in the main feed. Unless they pay to promote a post. I just happened to catch this one in that little side stalker feed that shows people's comments and likes as they happen. It's a result of FB's efforts to "clean up" the main news feed by only showing you the stuff you don't care about, but FB thinks you should see.

    4. Re:Ha ha ha... by doesnothingwell · · Score: 1

      Wait, this isn't the presidential debate thread?

      --
      They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
    5. Re:Ha ha ha... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because Romney's a big gas bag and Obama's a big asshole?

  5. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    But that doesn't look like my anus...

  6. Warning! by glrotate · · Score: -1, Funny

    All of the links redirect to goatse.cx!

    1. Re:Warning! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure why this is modded down. It's a very relevant warning. Assume all links in posts are NSFW. Although, 10 posts in and not one goatse link yet. Where is the slashdot of yesteryear?

  7. Haha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    I figure the comments on this post would be hilarious

    I can use a hand held mirror to see my anus. I don't even need a mirror to see the atmosphere around ur anus.

    1. Re:Haha by bored_engineer · · Score: 1

      Some of them have been. Yours, on the other hand. . .

  8. fair warning. by Kaenneth · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you click any links in the comments for this article, you deserve it.

    1. Re:fair warning. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nASSa gasses of Uranus

    2. Re:fair warning. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have they fixed the redirect vulnerability, or was that link not intended to point to goatse.cx?

    3. Re:fair warning. by Xacid · · Score: 2

      I took one for the team and looked. We're safe.

  9. Obligatory Star Trek reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Watch out for the Klingons near Uranus!

  10. So how really do they account for the swirling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm amazed that they can account for the Coriolis affect over 117 frames

    RTFAed, so posting Anon

    1. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by wierd_w · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I am curious to know as well, since uranus has complex rotation. (It rotates on 2 axies; one roughly parallel to the solar ecliptic, and one perpendicular to it.) The coriolis effects would favor the first axis, but would still be influenced by the second.

      Other interesting things would be the impact of solar heating due to its unusual angle of primary rotation. I can imagine very strange liquid gas ocean currents on the surface. (If not liquid, at least supercritical) the actual rocky body core inside probably has some very unique features from the erosion of the highspeed, high pressure atmosphere.

      It really is a shame that we would have to make probes of pure unobtanium to exlore anything other than the atmospheres of the gas giants. I would love to see the remnants of the impact crater from the impact that knocked uranus into such an obscure rotation, or to see how such a dense and high velocity atmosphere erodes and reshapes the rocky body beneath.

    2. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      I am curious to know as well, since uranus has complex rotation. (It rotates on 2 axies; one roughly parallel to the solar ecliptic, and one perpendicular to it.) The coriolis effects would favor the first axis, but would still be influenced by the second.

      Other interesting things would be the impact of solar heating due to its unusual angle of primary rotation. I can imagine very strange liquid gas ocean currents on the surface. (If not liquid, at least supercritical) the actual rocky body core inside probably has some very unique features from the erosion of the highspeed, high pressure atmosphere.

      It really is a shame that we would have to make probes of pure unobtanium to exlore anything other than the atmospheres of the gas giants. I would love to see the remnants of the impact crater from the impact that knocked uranus into such an obscure rotation, or to see how such a dense and high velocity atmosphere erodes and reshapes the rocky body beneath.

      Agreed. It would be nice to know why it has such an unusually cool core temperature for a gas giant. I'd also like to know if Jupiter's core is really metallic hydrogen. Just the thought that there could be enough pressure to force hydrogen into that state is pretty damn cool (obviously not literally).

    3. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by shadowofwind · · Score: 1

      My understanding has been that axis of rotation being almost in the elliptic plane is more stable, for a planet with those parameters, and it would have slowly moved into that orientation itself. The earth would do this also but its stabilized by the moon. The moon is slowly getting further away though, and the earth is expected to eventually enter a chaotic period where the axis of rotation wanders around chaotically before finally settling in the elliptic plane. By then we'll already be toast from the increased luminosity of the sun though.

    4. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by techno-vampire · · Score: 2

      I am curious to know as well, since uranus has complex rotation. (It rotates on 2 axies; one roughly parallel to the solar ecliptic, and one perpendicular to it.)

      I think you're a little confused here because I haven't been able to find any source for what you write. Yes, there are times that one or the other poles points toward the Sun and times that the Sun is over the equator, but that doesn't have anything to do with Uranus rotating on two axes. It's just that it's lying on its side relative to its orbit so different parts of it point toward the Sun at various times.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    5. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by hankwang · · Score: 1

      According to TFA they didn't account for Coriolis effects. The overall rotation causes 60 pixels of shift per hour, whereas the differences in rotation speed are only good for 3 pixels per hour.

      I don't know much about hydrodynamics of gas giants, but I suppose that there is a mechanism that prevents the formation of hurricane-like structures that are big enough and rotating fast enough to show up on photos of this resolution. Typical photos of Jupiter show only small scale eddies. Except for Jupiter's big spot, but even that one doesn't change shape on a timescale of a few hours.

      --
      Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
    6. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      INDEED URANUS HAS INTERESTING PROPERTIES

      I need to quit drinking. What is this shit about too many caps?

    7. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by mister_playboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I would love to see the remnants of the impact crater from the impact that knocked uranus into such an obscure rotation

      Recent models of the solar system's evolution can't account for objects as massive and Uranus and Neptune forming so far from the Sun. The idea is the actually formed much closer and were pushed outward.

      The mechanism for this event is proposed to have been a 2:1 orbital resonance between Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter moved inwards and the other large planets moved outwards, possible causing Uranus' odd axial tilt in the process. This model also proposed that Neptune was originally closer to the Sun than Uranus, but swapped places during the disruptive event. This model makes sense of why Neptune is more massive than Uranus.

      An direct impact event would have to have involved something very large to affect such a massive body (14.5 earth masses) so radically. That seems unlikely.

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    8. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by moeinvt · · Score: 1

      "I'd also like to know if Jupiter's core is really metallic hydrogen"

      Wouldn't helium and/or some of the other, heavier, elements sink to the core?

      "The core of Jupiter is a diamond as large as the earth."
      -Arthur C. Clarke, from '2010 Odyssey Two"

      Not sure if the presence of carbon has ever been verified on Jupiter, but the meteorites that have fallen to earth have often been carbon rich. It seems probable that Jupiter would have attracted lots of space rocks over time.

    9. Re:So how really do they account for the swirling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jupiter is expected to have some mixture of material beyond hydrogen and helium, including several Earth masses of rocky elements. There is still a question of whether it has or had a rocky core. Measurements of gravitational influence on satellites gives some constraints, and is suggesting it has some sort of rocky core, but the measurements are pretty rough. It is still possible it doesn't have a solid core if convection is strong enough to keep elements mixed in the center. But if it did, expectations are that it would have a composition not far from Earth, as would the very center of cores of other gas giants if they were similar. Although Neptune seems to have a lot of methane and it may have a layer that involves diamonds of some form due to the amount of carbon available there.

  11. Holy shit.. by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I love astronomy, but I literally read this on my phone whilst sitting on the toilet. I know the jokes are going to run rampant, so can we perhaps start an intelligent conversation about the utility and practicality of probing or mining the heavier elements below Uranus's hazy methane cloud? Oh wait...damn.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Holy shit.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That wouldn't be a very intelligent conversation past the "it will never happen" stage.

    2. Re:Holy shit.. by Baloroth · · Score: 1

      Unless you can create some sort of tractor beam-like device (through gravitational or magnetic effects... maybe even sound through the atmosphere, theoretically) that probably isn't possible. In theory I suppose you could split pieces off through bullet-type projectiles, but given the thickness of the atmosphere that would probably also not be possible. You certainly couldn't use the same technology we use today, gravity and environment is far too strong for that.

      All this is, of course, well beyond our current technology, probably 500 years so. Also well beyond our needs, though, for now. But if we ever want to build a Dyson sphere or something, it could prove worthwhile.

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
    3. Re:Holy shit.. by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      We really need to send rovers to more planets. The gas giants should be easy, you can use aero-braking and balloons to land and explore. We can send probes to the bottom of the ocean, the pressure on a gas giant should be easy.

    4. Re:Holy shit.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Are you inviting scientists to probe Uranus?

      AW CRAP I couldn't hold back...

    5. Re:Holy shit.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We really need to send rovers to more planets. The gas giants should be easy, you can use aero-braking and balloons to land and explore. We can send probes to the bottom of the ocean, the pressure on a gas giant should be easy.

      Nope. Not even close

      The temperature and pressure inside Jupiter increase steadily toward the core. At the phase transition region where hydrogen—heated beyond its critical point—becomes metallic, it is believed the temperature is 10,000 K and the pressure is 200 GPa. The temperature at the core boundary is estimated to be 36,000 K and the interior pressure is roughly 3,000–4,500 GPa.

  12. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Though it's still impossible to get a clear view through the gaseous maelstrom with our current technology, what little the astronomers could make out was enough to shake even the most jaded of them. "I've been doing this for forty-one years," one researcher admitted, "and I just about passed out. It's far worse than any of us could have imagined."

    Experts summarized the observations as "totally nasty", adding that "you really need to wash Uranus. Your hygeine is terrible, and it's not okay."

  13. The Most Detailed Images of Uranus by e065c8515d206cb0e190 · · Score: 1

    Oh come one. Now you totally ruined what could have been an interesting article.

  14. If they can demote Pluto ... by jabberwock · · Score: 1

    ... surely they can change the name of YOOR a nus ... pick some other deity. It's not like there's a shortage.

    1. Re:If they can demote Pluto ... by tnyquist83 · · Score: 1

      I vote for Pazuzu.

    2. Re:If they can demote Pluto ... by pnot · · Score: 1

      ... surely they can change the name of YOOR a nus

      Urectum?

    3. Re:If they can demote Pluto ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why name it after a deity? Why not a playwright, like Shakespeare, or a mother like Mother Theresa, or a philosopher like Sophocles or Taesticles?

    4. Re:If they can demote Pluto ... by snspdaarf · · Score: 1

      ...or Taesticles?

      Bootlicker

      --
      Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
    5. Re:If they can demote Pluto ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Or Slashdot posters could Grow The Fuck Up.

      OK, that is rather far-fetched, but I keep hoping.

  15. Enough with the iPhone 5 stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Yes, it's got a camera but grow up already.

  16. Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when I read the first part about the atmosphere on Uranus I immediately though it would be funny if it were surrounded by methane. Then a couple lines down we see that it is. Hah!

  17. twisted bands at the equator? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The colored bands are nice but it looks like they are twisted at the equator. Is Uranus wearing a fancy thong?

  18. Yeah yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tldr - we all know about goatse already

  19. Dammit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i KNEW the goverment was spying on me in the bathroom!

  20. Voyager by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Too bad Voyager didn't have the right IR filters when it flew by. It only found a hazy globe with slight wispyness. I was disappointed with the Uranus pics from Voyager (although its moons were more photogenic).

    I was pleasantly surprised to see Neptune had visible features for Voyager.

    I truly expected it to be bland like Uranus, and one day I was walking past the newsstand after an intense college exam and spotted a big photo of a beautiful blue planet on the front page with wispy spots and storms. At first I thought it was a sci-fi movie ad.

    And then it suddenly hit me: Voyager! Neptune! Wow! A great de-stresser after an exam. It's a "geek moment" I'll never forget. It was so new and foreign and spooky and fscking beautiful!

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Voyager by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      If Obama came out in favor of oxygen, Republicans would suffocate in protest.

      Then let him. And if we can only find a way to get rid of Democrats after, then the world will be perfect. Those two parties are responsible for all the bad legislation of the last century....

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Voyager by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In 2012 it's cool to be a communist. He's just announcing to his comrades that he is indeed one of them. You see that a lot around here. It's just sucking up to the trendies, so try not to take it too literally.

    3. Re:Voyager by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Humans are the real cause of problems, not political parties. If you put an ape behind the wheel of the best car there is, it's still an ape driving.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    4. Re:Voyager by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Yeah. A lot of the complaints people have about corporations are just complaints about the difficulties of living with other people.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  21. Uranal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    insert favorite WoW spell or ability here. lol insert, I said insert.

  22. failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    my anus!

  23. mod Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    is the worst off Poor dead last W4sh off hands leaving the play

    1. Re:mod Up by Brad1138 · · Score: 2

      I strongly recommend not clicking on parent's link...

      --
      If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
  24. Name Change by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Informative

    They really have to change that planet's name.

    Etymology:
    It was originally called "Georgium Sidus" after King George III, but since no one liked that name a bunch of unofficial alternatives were thought up. Uranus eventually won out and even became official in 1850. Uranus being the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos. Bode argued that just as Saturn was the father of Jupiter, the new planet should be named after the father of Saturn. In 1789, Bode's Royal Academy colleague Martin Klaproth named his newly discovered element "uranium" in support of Bode's choice.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    1. Re:Name Change by jamesh · · Score: 1

      They really have to change that planet's name.

      Etymology:
      It was originally called "Georgium Sidus" after King George III, but since no one liked that name a bunch of unofficial alternatives were thought up. Uranus eventually won out and even became official in 1850. Uranus being the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos. Bode argued that just as Saturn was the father of Jupiter, the new planet should be named after the father of Saturn. In 1789, Bode's Royal Academy colleague Martin Klaproth named his newly discovered element "uranium" in support of Bode's choice.

      Just change the pronunciation. Instead of saying it like "your anus", change the 'a' to the short 'a' like in 'apple'. The existing pronunciation is making too many people laugh and we all know how bad that is for you.

    2. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you suggest ...instead of "Your Anus" we pronounce it: "you're an ass".

    3. Re:Name Change by jamesh · · Score: 1

      So you suggest ...instead of "Your Anus" we pronounce it: "you're an ass".

      "You're an us" would be a better approximation. Your way is good too though.

    4. Re:Name Change by Dekker3D · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but.. "arr anus"? Is that the best you've got? I never knew pirates shared anii.

    5. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the way everyone used to pronounce it: YouRainUs.

    6. Re:Name Change by ianare · · Score: 1

      No change needed, the short "a" version is an accepted prononciation of the name, and in fact is closer to the original Latin.

    7. Re:Name Change by sincewhen · · Score: 1

      Great, that's settled then. From now on, it's pronounced URINE-US.

      --
      -- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
    8. Re:Name Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No change needed, the short "a" version is an accepted prononciation of the name, and in fact is closer to the original Latin.

      Isn't that version just contrived snicker-proofing professors use for undergrads and TV?

  25. Oblig. Futurama reference by PPH · · Score: 1

    In order to eliminate jokes about 'Uranus', the planet's name will be changed in 2620.

    To 'Urectum'.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  26. Showing my age... by snspdaarf · · Score: 3, Funny

    Those dirty rings. You've tried soaking, scrubbing, and you still end up with (singing) Ring Around Uranus!

    --
    Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
  27. not very detailed by xdcx · · Score: 0

    with satellites and telescopes able to see galaxies across the universe, and we get a shitty picture that looks like it was taken in 1960 u have to be an idiot to think these are qualified as detailed, today.

    1. Re:not very detailed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How stupid are you, exactly? You seem to have no idea of the scales involved here. Let me guess, you're one of those people who thinks we'll colonize Mars and mine asteroids, right?

    2. Re:not very detailed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm, do you realize that Uranus at its closest approach has the same angular size as a 100,000 light year wide galaxy would 5 billion light years away? Actually, that is the angular size of a galaxy that far away assuming Euclidean geometry. In an expanding universe, due to the change in the size of the universe as the light crosses large distances, it messes with the angular size, actually increasing it. At distances much more than the 5 billion light years, further things actually get larger in angular size with distance (although dimmer and redder).

      In other words, compared to distance galaxies, yes this is pretty detailed.

    3. Re:not very detailed by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      with satellites and telescopes able to see galaxies across the universe, and we get a shitty picture...

      Wow, talk about asking for the joke.

  28. Apple is mapping Uranus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But they put the rectum in the middle of the left cheek

  29. Rectifying Nomenclature by Penurious+Penguin · · Score: 1

    Considering that Uranus (Ouranos) in ancient Greek implies "sky"; would it not have been simpler to have just named it Urasterisk? Assuming the Greeks - in mirthful, strategical anticipation - consulted the Pythia prior to selecting the name, and that the root "asteriskos" actually implies "little star", we could've had our planet and our jokes too. The asterisk arguably resembles the southern latitudinal extremity of the head, but also carries etymological connotations of a star. Win/Win.

    Moral of the comment: After Alexander and Uranus, don't trust Oracles.
    Pardon, folks; I could resist no better.

    --
    Forward! -- Emperor Norton, 2012
  30. Not really two rotation axes, just two components by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    (It rotates on 2 axies; one roughly parallel to the solar ecliptic, and one perpendicular to it.)

    For one, the rotation due to orbiting around the Sun is a little over 40,000 times slower. So the contributions of that to any Coriolis forces would also be about 40,000 times weaker than the rotation of the planet. Second, things like the Coriolis effect only really care about the total rotation of the frame you are talking about. So the angular velocities of the rotation of the planet and orbit would combine to have just a single angular velocity vector that results in a single Coriolis force. The break down into revolutions and orbits would be just two components of a single rotation.

  31. Any Klingons.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard that Captain Kirk and Toilet Paper have them in common.

  32. Priority: Alpha-One by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From: Starfleet Headquarters
    To: Capt. J. Kirk, USS Enterprise

    Captain,

    Although your ongoing stream of data about the p-p chain in the sun is highly useful to our top scientists, you must abort that mission immediately. New priority, level alpha-one: wipe out the klingons around Uranus!

    Assuming you survive, swing by the moons and pick up some rock samples. Our German geologist friends will be uberglucklich if they get something from Uranus' system, especially a Titanic schist.

    Over and out,

    Rear-Admiral Brown

  33. Oh the jokes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uranus? Keckkeckkeckkeckkeck....

  34. can anyone be serious? by pbjones · · Score: 1

    there is no way that a post like this could appear on /. without fart jokes, and not much more. Just can't stop smiling.

    --
    There was an unknown error in the submission.
  35. Talcum by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 1

    Talcum powder should aid the highlighting of the rings. Let sphincter training commence!

    Sorry to have put an explicit graphical image inside your brain.

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  36. Astronomers of the world, unite! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we please get the name of this planet changed so that all those puerile body-part jokes dry up?

    C'mon, you guys managed to make a planet disappear, surely a simple name change is easier than that.

    And, no, I DON'T want it changed to Urasshol :-)

    1. Re:Astronomers of the world, unite! by c0lo · · Score: 1

      Astronomers of the world, unite!

      Speaking about the "astronomers of the world" - did you know that English is spoken by less than 7% of the world's population?
      Do you really fracking think this makes sense as a joke (stupid and childish word play rather) in any language other than English!?

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    2. Re:Astronomers of the world, unite! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate to throw the "citation needed" card, but your 7% figure seems to be way off, unless you meant native speakers (but that's not what you wrote).

      - T

  37. carefull carefull by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    //mustnotmakejokehere.godammit.thisgirlsaPhD.mustnotmakejoke.mustnomakejoke.breath.BREATH.relax//

    - " yes, fascinating, the convection..hmm..bands...are clearly ah.um visible, yes"

    -" are you ok ??????" //didn'tmakejoke.relax.relax.shedidn'tnotice.relax.breath.BREATH.didn'tmakejoke.noneatall.//

  38. Keck, heck, use a mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't need a multi-billion dollar Telescope, just use a mirror to take photos of Uranus.

  39. Unevitable by LeGarcia · · Score: 0

    GOATSE ALERT! GOATSE ALERT!

  40. 7 percent by tepples · · Score: 1

    did you know that English is spoken by less than 7% of the world's population?

    Did you know that..

    • words derived from the Latin "anus" appear in languages other than English?
    • a lot more people than 7 percent speak English as a second language?
    • the 7 percent who speak English as a first language alone make up far more than 7 percent of gross world product?
  41. And never again... by Foolomon · · Score: 1

    ...was the use of the word "atmosphere" so important as this instance.

  42. Any detailed pictures of Uranus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    are bound to show Klingons.