On March 10, 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus!
Astronomers had long suspected that Uranus has rings, but the actual discovery happened by accident. A team of three astronomers was using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory to observe the atmosphere of Uranus. They did this during a stellar occultation, which means that a background star was passing behind the planet. Seeing how the light from that star changes when it passed through the atmosphere could yield clues about the composition of Uranus.
To their surprise, the star began to flicker before it was even eclipsed by Uranus. The star disappeared and reappeared five times as it passed behind the rings. At first they believed that Uranus had five rings, but more observations have revealed that it actually has 13 rings.
- 5 weird facts about mysterious Uranus in photos
- Uranus Is a cool place, but jokes make it the 'Saddest Planet' (video)
- Latest News About Uranus, Seventh Planet from the Sun
Catch up on our entire "On This Day In Space" series on YouTube with this playlist.
OFFER: Save up to 56% on 13 issues a year!
All About Space magazine takes you on an awe-inspiring journey through our solar system and beyond, from the amazing technology and spacecraft that enables humanity to venture into orbit, to the complexities of space science.
View Deal
On This Day in Space Archive!
Still not enough space? Don't forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week.
Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
