How is Uranus Pronounced

The seventh planet from the Sun is a frozen ice giant of a world smothered in a heavy atmosphere. For those reasons, planetary scientists continue to study it with both ground-based and space-based telescopes. The Voyager 2 spacecraft swept past the planet in 1986, giving astronomers their first close-up look at this distant world. Historical / Getty Images However, Uranus has a problem. Or, rather, humans have a problem with its name. It has long been the butt of jokes ranging from classroom giggles to much more explicit commentary on the late-night talk shows. Why? Because it has a name that, if people say it wrong, it sounds really, really  naughty.   While school students have a lot of fun with the name, discussions about Uranus  even elicit  giggles from college students and adults at live planetarium star lectures. Its understandable, even at the same time that astronomers and teachers privately roll their eyes when they have to teach about the planet. The question is, though, is all this merriment necessary? And, how DO we say its name? One Word, Two  Uranuses It turns out that both pronunciations that people use are correct. The classic, potty-mouth version (specifically  Ã… «Ã‚ ·rÄ Ã¢â‚¬ ²Ã‚ ·nÉ™s, or you-RAY-nuss)  places the emphasis on the long A sound. Thats the one that leads to raised eyebrows, giggling and outright laughter. Its the pronunciation that most planetarium lecturers, for example, dont even want to talk about in front of an audience. Which is probably why kids still ask about it and adults still snicker when they hear it. The other pronunciation (Ã… «r†²Ã‚ ·Ã‰â„¢Ã‚ ·nÉ™s) places the emphasis on the long U while the long A sound is replaced with an uh as in YOU-ruh-nuss. As it turns out this pronunciation is the one preferred among academics. Sure, it almost sounds like Urine-uss, and that raises the eyebrows among people for whom any mention of bathroom stuff is icky. But, honestly, that second pronunciation is much better to use and is more historically accurate. The name comes from the ancient Greek name for the god of the sky. Read up on  Greek gods and mythology to learn more about the planets namesake. Uranus was considered one of the most basic  gods. He was married to the Earth mother Gaia (and, quite interestingly, he was also her son which really IS kind of racy!). They had children who became the first  Titans and were ancestors of all the other Greek gods who followed. Because Greek mythology is of interest to scholars and because Greek names are scattered throughout astronomical nomenclature, using the Greek pronunciation is more academically pleasing. Of course, its also less embarrassing. Pronouncing it YOU-ruh-nuss  stops the students from snickering. Or so people hope.   Uranus is Really Fascinating Its really too bad that people have to be so squirrelly the name of one of the more fascinating worlds in the solar system. If they look beyond the name, they would learn cool information a world that rolls around the Sun on its side and periodically points one pole or the other directly at us. That gives the planet some strange (and very long) seasons. When the Voyager 2 spacecraft rushed past, it sent back views of the planet in different wavelengths of light. Two views of Uranus from Voyager 2. The left image is a normal view, showing very little detail in the clouds. With special instruments, Voyager 2 showed us that the pole of the planet was pointing toward the Sun and that there were distinct atmospheric layers. NASA.JPL   It also checked out the strange little moons of Uranus, which all appear to be frozen, cratered, and in a few cases, have very odd-looking surfaces.   Pictures of the Uranian moon Miranda, with its unique surface features. NASA/JPL Uranus itself is classified as an ice giant world. That doesnt mean its actually made completely of ice. Its interior is a small rocky worldlet (maybe about the size of Earth) surrounded by a layer of ammonia, water, ammonia, and methane ices. Above that are the atmospheric layers, which are made mostly of hydrogen, helium, and methane gases; the topmost layer is made of clouds, and there are ice particles there, too. That qualifies as a pretty interesting world in anybodys book, regardless of what its called!   Finding Uranus Another secret about Uranus? Not so mysterious really; this world was  discovered by British astronomer and musical composer William Herschel, back in 1781. He wanted to name it after his patron, King George III. That didnt fly with astronomers in France, who claimed to have discovered it, too. So, eventually, it was named Uranus, which pleased everybody.   So, Which Uranus to Use? So which pronunciation to use? Go with whats comfortable. A sense of humor about the whole thing helps. Remember that the planet  is gassy, but those gases are mostly of hydrogen and helium, with some methane here and there. And, heres a final thought: far from being a huge joke, Uranus turns out to be a repository of important building blocks of the solar system! That ​and its position out beyond Saturn keep planetary scientists busy trying to understand its fascinating characteristics.   Edited by Carolyn Collins Petersen.