Q 01/05

Where does Uranus rank in distance from the Sun?

A) Eighth

B) Sixth

C) Fifth

D) Seventh

Answer · why

D) Seventh

It sits between Saturn and Neptune, roughly twice as far out as Saturn.

Q 02/05

Who discovered Uranus in 1781?

A) Edmond Halley

B) William Herschel

C) Charles Messier

D) Johann Bode

Answer · why

B) William Herschel

He spotted it from his garden in Bath with a homemade 6.2-inch reflector, and first thought it was a comet.

Q 03/05

What did Herschel first report his new object to be?

A) A double star

B) A nebula

C) A nova

D) A comet

Answer · why

D) A comet

Anders Lexell computed its nearly circular orbit and showed it had to be a planet.

Q 04/05

What name did Herschel want to give the planet, in honour of his royal patron?

A) Britannia Regina

B) Georgium Sidus (George's Star)

C) Stella Regis (King's Star)

D) Sidus Hanoverae

Answer · why

B) Georgium Sidus (George's Star)

King George III liked it; astronomers outside Britain did not, and 'the Georgian Planet' never caught on.

Q 05/05

Who proposed the name Uranus, in 1782?

A) Nevil Maskelyne

B) Jérôme Lalande

C) Johann Elert Bode

D) William Herschel

Answer · why

C) Johann Elert Bode

Lalande wanted to call it Herschel; Bode argued the new planet should be the father of Saturn, as Saturn was father of Jupiter.