Discovery of Uranus March 1783 and what it means for you

March 13, 1781. Uranus - was discovered on this date, completely by accident. British astronomer William Herschel was performing a survey of all stars of at least magnitude 8 - from slightly too faint to see with the eye, in other words. That’s when he noticed a very faint object - only barely within the limit for viewing with the eye - that moved in front of the fixed stars. This movement clearly demonstrated it was closer to us than the stars. At first he thought he had found a comet. Later, he and others realized it was a planet in orbit around our Sun, the first new planet discovered since ancient times. Full article is here: http://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-uranus-discovered-completely-by-accident. Astronomers later learned they had observed Uranus as far back as 1690. They’d just never really noticed it before. It was Herschel who first realized the true nature of this distant light in our sky.

In 1977, astronomers using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory made another serendipitous discovery - of rings around the planet Uranus. That discovery made Uranus the second known ringed planet in our solar system. The closest we humans have come to Uranus was in 1986, when the Voyager 2 spacecraft swung by the planet. At its closest, the spacecraft came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of Uranus’s cloudtops on Jan. 24, 1986. Voyager 2 radioed thousands of images and voluminous amounts of other scientific data on the planet, its moons, rings, atmosphere, interior and the magnetic environment surrounding Uranus.

What does Uranus mean to you?

Uranus is the symbol of independence, friends, groups and change. Uranus is a catalyst, stirring up and breaking apart what has become crystallized or fossilized. Uranus is magnetic, and where Uranus lives in your chart reveals how and where you attract others to you.  Uranus shatters structures your life represented by Saturn,  urging you to move on. Uranus can be likened to the Tower in the Tarot cards.

When Uranus makes a square and opposition to its natal placement in your chart, you experience sudden, unexpected, life-changing situations and relationships in your life. After a prominent personal Uranus transit, your life is refreshingly free and different.

When Uranus changes sign, it reveals challenges to the world status quo. When Uranus went into the sign of Aries in March 2011, challenging the Pisces qualities of peace, compassion and Christianity. Uranus went into Taurus June through October of 1934, then again from April 1935 through May 1942. This is when the United States closed the banks and changed the currency. The entire world changed during these years. The challenge was to the opulent lifestyle of the 1920's. Uranus will go into Taurus May of 2018, so we can expect changes in currency, luxury and a calming down of the current tumult. The greatest challenges will be to those who have natal Uranus in the signs of Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. We don’t know how the Uranus in Taurus group of people will experience a conjunction.

To discover how this may affect you, please contact Patty.