Arrive at Uranus with Voyager 2, know its discoveries, and see close-ups of Miranda
Voyager 2 arriving at Uranus after a five-year journey from Saturn, January 24, 1986.
NASA/JPL
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: First detected in 1781 by English astronomer Sir William Herschel, Uranus, in Greek mythology, is the name for the heavens.
Five years and almost a billion miles after leaving Saturn, Voyager 2 reached Uranus in January of 1986. Like all the other planets, Uranus spins like a top but tipped over on its side, strangely tilted and off center. Uranus's magnetic field extends in a bizarre corkscrew tail millions of miles into space. Its magnetic poles are also wildly askew.
Voyager 2 discovered two new rings, dark, narrow, thin bands of ice, rock, and dust with particles the size of a fist.
Although Voyager 2 discovered ten new Uranian moons, the most eagerly anticipated event was the close encounter with Miranda, one of the most bizarre moons in our solar system. Close-ups of Miranda revealed a strange and wondrous landscape, including a canyon 12 miles deep. Miranda may have collided with another moon, shattered, and then, by the force of its own gravity, slowly reassembled itself into this chunk of rock and ice.
These digitized photographs are a silent testament to the violent origins of our solar system.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: First detected in 1781 by English astronomer Sir William Herschel, Uranus, in Greek mythology, is the name for the heavens.
Five years and almost a billion miles after leaving Saturn, Voyager 2 reached Uranus in January of 1986. Like all the other planets, Uranus spins like a top but tipped over on its side, strangely tilted and off center. Uranus's magnetic field extends in a bizarre corkscrew tail millions of miles into space. Its magnetic poles are also wildly askew.
Voyager 2 discovered two new rings, dark, narrow, thin bands of ice, rock, and dust with particles the size of a fist.
Although Voyager 2 discovered ten new Uranian moons, the most eagerly anticipated event was the close encounter with Miranda, one of the most bizarre moons in our solar system. Close-ups of Miranda revealed a strange and wondrous landscape, including a canyon 12 miles deep. Miranda may have collided with another moon, shattered, and then, by the force of its own gravity, slowly reassembled itself into this chunk of rock and ice.
These digitized photographs are a silent testament to the violent origins of our solar system.
[Music out]
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