A little leap through time and space, here on this Friday the 13th, in the year, 2020. If you are one of those people who fear this day, as sort of a bad luck omen, just think of how terrible March 9 through 12 have been. It’s not restricted to only the 13th. Perhaps things will somehow shape up today.
Historically speaking, the 13th of March has had some notable events. I’m sure there are scads more than I am relaying here. But these few are “far out.” First, let’s go back to 1781. The year of the butt in the sky. That is when William Herschel saw what he thought was a “comet.” But, no pun intended, it was actually the discovery of the planet Uranus.
Herschel wanted to name the planet Georgium Sidus, or George’s Star, in honor of King George III. But apparently, Herschel was low-man on the totem pole in the planetary office. Another astronomer said the name should be Uranus, for the Greek God of the sky. And so it became. But it HAS to be the worst named stellar body ever. Even when people try to pronounce it with a slight variation, it still sounds like they are muffling “Your Anus.” “Well. It’s not my anus. It’s your anus.” Pluto is just out a little further. Like all dogs, Pluto is probably sniffing Uranus.
And since we are speaking of Pluto. Today is the birthday of Percival Lowell. He’s another man of space. Lowell is best known for his speculations that there were canals on Mars. When I think of canals, I think of Venice, or Amsterdam, or on the downside, Erie or Panama. No matter what direction though, I envision some kind of dude on a boat. In the case of Mars, I see the Bugs Bunny Martian, Marvin, pushing a gondola along. But back to Percival Lowell. He founded the Lowell Observatory in Arizona which led to the discovery of Pluto. Lowell influenced the naming of Pluto, chosen in part based on his initials PL. He was born on March 13, 1855.
And since we are on the naming of Pluto. It is wildly coincidental that Pluto’s discovery also happened on this date. Yes. In 1930, Clyde Tombaugh announced the discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory (see the Lowell in Percival Lowell as mentioned). All those star guys, rubbing elbows.
A little March 13th madness.
Another thing to consider with all of this. An earthly fact. Russia has more surface area than Pluto. With 6,601,668 square miles of landmass, Russia beats Pluto’s 6,427,805 square miles of surface area. The world’s second-biggest country, Canada, has a landmass of 3,855,103 square miles. Russian nearly doubles that. Huge Russia, the size of Pluto, da.
I wonder how they say Uranus in Russia. They probably just roll the r.
It’s not a bad planet. Blue, pale blue, in color. Way bigger than earth. It is also the coldest planet in our solar system, with a minimum atmospheric temperature of -224°C. And one trip around the sun for Uranus takes a whopping 84 Earth years. So yes, your butt does look big in that orbit.
All of this just goes to show us, that everything intermingles. Another reminder, in this big place of ours.
Sometimes, we don’t understand it all. We can’t. Our understanding is limited. We dwell in the midst of the infinite. And that is our path. Our orbit.
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“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”
― Neil Armstrong
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“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
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“If you are in a spaceship that is traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything happen?”
— Steven Wright
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