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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest (by diameter).
Uranus is larger in diameter but smaller in mass than Neptune
Planet Profile
orbit: 2,870,990,000 km (19.218 AU) from Su
diameter: 51,118 km (equatorial)
mass: 8.683e25 kg
History of Uranus
Careful pronunciation may be necessary to avoid embarrassment; say
"YOOR a nus" , not "your anus" or "urine us".
Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. Uranus
was the son and mate of Gaia the father of Cronus (Saturn) and of the Cyclopes and
Titans (predecessors of the Olympian gods).
Uranus, the first planet discovered in modern times, was discovered by William
Herschel while systematically searching the sky with his telescope on March 13,
1781. It had actually been seen many times before but ignored as simply another
star (the earliest recorded sighting was in 1690 when John Flamsteed cataloged it as
34 Tauri). Herschel named it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of
his patron, the infamous (to Americans) King George III of England; others called it
"Herschel". The name "Uranus" was first proposed by Bode in conformity with the
other planetary names from classical mythology but didn't come into common use
until 1850.
Uranus has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2 on Jan 24 1986.
Most of the planets spin on an axis nearly perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic
but Uranus' axis is almost parallel to the ecliptic. At the time of Voyager 2's
passage, Uranus' south pole was pointed almost directly at the Sun. This results in
the odd fact that Uranus' polar regions receive more energy input from the Sun than
do its equatorial regions. Uranus is nevertheless hotter at its equator than at its
poles. The mechanism underlying this is unknown.
Actually, there's an ongoing battle over which of Uranus' poles is its north pole!
Either its axial inclination is a bit over 90 degrees and its rotation is direct, or it's a
bit less than 90 degrees and the rotation is retrograde. The problem is that you
need to draw a dividing line *somewhere*, because in a case like Venus there is
little dispute that the rotation is indeed retrograde (not a direct rotation with an
inclination of nearly 180).
Uranus is composed primarily of rock and various ices, with only about 15%
hydrogen and a little helium (in contrast to Jupiter and Saturn which are mostly
hydrogen). Uranus (and Neptune) are in many ways similar to the cores of Jupiter
and Saturn minus the massive liquid metallic hydrogen envelope. It appears that
Uranus does not have a rocky core like Jupiter and Saturn but rather that its
material is more or less uniformly distributed.
Like the other gas planets, Uranus has bands of clouds that blow around rapidly. But
they are extremely faint, visible only with radical image enhancement of the
Voyager 2 pictures (right). Recent observations with HST (left) show larger and more
pronounced streaks. Further HST observations show even more activity. Uranus is no
longer the bland boring planet that Voyager saw! It now seems clear that the
differences are due to seasonal effects since the Sun is now at a lower Uranian
latitude which may cause more pronounced day/night weather effects. By 2007 the
Sun will be directly over Uranus's equator.
Uranus' blue color is the result of absorption of red light by methane in the upper
atmosphere. There may be colored bands like Jupiter's but they are hidden from
view by the overlaying methane layer.
Like the other gas planets, Uranus has rings. Like Jupiter's, they are very dark but
like Saturn's they are composed of fairly large particles ranging up to 10 meters in
diameter in addition to fine dust. There are 13 known rings, all very faint; the
brightest is known as the Epsilon ring. The Uranian rings were the first after Saturn's
to be discovered. This was of considerable importance since we now know that rings
are a common feature of planets, not a peculiarity of Saturn alone.
Voyager 2 discovered 10 small moons in addition to the 5 large ones already known.
It is likely that there are several more tiny satellites within the rings.
Uranus' magnetic field is odd in that it is not centered on the center of the planet
and is tilted almost 60 degrees with respect to the axis of rotation. It is probably
generated by motion at relatively shallow depths within Uranus.
Uranus is sometimes just barely visible with the unaided eye on a very clear night; it
is fairly easy to spot with binoculars (if you know exactly where to look). A small
astronomical telescope will show a small disk. There are several Web sites that show
the current position of Uranus (and the other planets) in the sky, but much more
detailed charts will be required to actually find it. Such charts can be created with a
planetarium program.
Uranus' Satellites
Uranus has 27 named moons:
Unlike the other bodies in the solar system which have names from classical
mythology, Uranus' moons take their names from the writings of Shakespeare and
Pope.
They form three distinct classes: the 11 small very dark inner ones discovered by
Voyager 2, the 5 large ones (right), and the newly discovered much more distant
ones.
Most have nearly circular orbits in the plane of Uranus' equator (and hence at a
large angle to the plane of the ecliptic); the outer 4 are much more elliptical.
Distance Radius
Mass
50
13
Voyager 2
1986
Ophelia
54
16
Voyager 2
1986
Bianca
59
22
Voyager 2
1986
Cressida
62
33
Voyager 2
1986
Desdemona
Juliet
Portia
Rosalind
63
64
42
66
29
Voyager 2
55
70
Voyager 2
1986
Voyager 2
27
1986
Voyager 2
75
Belinda
75
34
Voyager 2
1986
Perdita
76
40
Voyager 2
1986
Puck
86
77
Voyager 2
1985
Mab
98
Showalter
2003
Ariel
Umbriel
Titania
130
191
Showalter
1986
Cupid
Miranda
1986
2003
1948
266
436
1851
1851
1787
Oberon
583
Francisco
4281
Sheppard
2003
Caliban
7169
40
Gladman
1997
Stephano
7948
15
Holman
1999
8578
Sycorax
12213
80
Nicholson
1997
Margaret
14689
Sheppard
2003
Prospero
16568
20
Holman
1999
Setebos
17681
20
Kavelaars
1999
Sheppard
2003
21000
Gladman
Trinculo
Ferdinand
1787
2001
Uranus' Rings
Distance
Ring
Width
(km)
------- --------
(km)
-----
Zeta 39,600
41,840
1-3
42,230
2-3
42,580
2-3
Alpha 44,720
7-12
Beta 45,670
7-12
Eta
0-2
47,190
Gamma
47,630
Delta 48,290
Lambda
50,024
1-4
3-9
1-2 (formally 1986 U1R)
Epsilon 51,140
20-100
Nu
67,300
Mu
97,700
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is the third largest in the solar
system. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1781. It has an equatorial diameter
of 51,800 kilometers (32,190 miles) and orbits the Sun once every 84.01 Earth
years. It has a mean distance from the Sun of 2.87 billion kilometers (1.78 billion
miles). It rotates about its axis once every 17 hours 14 minutes. Uranus has at least
22 moons. The two largest moons, Titania and Oberon, were discovered by William
Herschel in 1787.
The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane
and small amounts of acetylene and other hydrocarbons. Methane in the upper
atmosphere absorbs red light, giving Uranus its blue-green color. The atmosphere is
arranged into clouds running at constant latitudes, similar to the orientation of the
more vivid latitudinal bands seen on Jupiter and Saturn. Winds at mid-latitudes on
Uranus blow in the direction of the planet's rotation. These winds blow at velocities
of 40 to 160 meters per second (90 to 360 miles per hour). Radio science
experiments found winds of about 100 meters per second blowing in the opposite
direction at the equator.
Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on its side. Its unusual position is
thought to be the result of a collision with a planet-sized body early in the solar
system's history. Voyager 2 found that one of the most striking influences of this
sideways position is its effect on the tail of the magnetic field, which is itself tilted
60 degrees from the planet's axis of rotation. The magnetotail was shown to be
twisted by the planet's rotation into a long corkscrew shape behind the planet. The
magnetic field source is unknown; the electrically conductive, super-pressurized
ocean of water and ammonia once thought to lie between the core and the
atmosphere now appears to be nonexistent. The magnetic fields of Earth and other
planets are believed to arise from electrical currents produced in their molten cores.
Uranus' Rings
In 1977, the first nine rings of Uranus were discovered. During the Voyager
encounters, these rings were photographed and measured, as were two other new
rings and ringlets. Uranus' rings are distinctly different from those at Jupiter and
Saturn. The outermost epsilon ring is composed mostly of ice boulders several feet
across. A very tenuous distribution of fine dust also seems to be spread throughout
the ring system.
There may be a large number of narrow rings, or possibly incomplete rings or ring
arcs, as small as 50 meters (160 feet) in width. The individual ring particles were
found to be of low reflectivity. At least one ring, the epsilon, was found to be gray in
color. The moons Cordelia and Ophelia act as shepherd satellites for the epsilon
ring.
Uranus Statistics
Discovered by
William Herschel
Date of discovery
1781
Mass (kg)
8.686e+25
Mass (Earth = 1)
1.4535e+01
25,559
4.0074
2,870,990,000
84.01
6.81
97.86
0.774
7.77
21.30
0.51
5.52
83%
15%
Methane 2%
1.2
19.1914
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its not visible to the naked eye, and
became the first planet discovered with the use of a telescope. Uranus is tipped
over on its side with an axial tilt of 98 degrees. It is often described as rolling
around the Sun on its side.
Uranus makes one trip around the Sun every 84 Earth years:
During some parts of its orbit one or the other of its poles point directly at the Sun
and get about 42 years of direct sunlight. The rest of the time they are in darkness.
Uranus has two sets of rings of very thin set of dark coloured rings:
The ring particles are small, ranging from a dust-sized particles to small boulders.
There are eleven inner rings and two outer rings. They probably formed when one or
more of Uranuss moons were broken up in an impact. The first rings were
discovered in 1977 with the two outer rings being discovered in Hubble Space
Telescope images between 2003 and 2005.
Uranus moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare and
Alaxander Pope:
These include Oberon, Titania and Miranda. All are frozen worlds with dark surfaces.
Some are ice and rock mixtures. The most interesting Uranian moon is Miranda; it
has ice canyons, terraces, and other strange-looking surface areas.
Discovered By
William Herschel
Date of Discovery
13 March 1781
Metric: 2,870,658,186 km
Perihelion (closest)
Metric: 2,734,998,229 km
English: 1,699,449,110 miles
Scientific Notation: 2.73500 x 109 km (1.828 x 101 A.U.)
By Comparison: 18.593 x Earth
Aphelion (farthest)
Metric: 3,006,318,143 km
English: 1,868,039,489 miles
Scientific Notation: 3.00632 x 109 km (2.010 x 101 A.U.)
By Comparison: 19.766 x Earth
Orbit Circumference
Metric: 18,026,802,831 km
English: 11,201,335,967 miles
Scientific Notation: 1.803 x 1010 km
By Comparison: 19.180 x Earth
Orbit Eccentricity
0.04725744
By Comparison: 2.828 x Earth
Orbit Inclination
0.77 degrees
Mean Radius
Metric: 25,362 km
English: 15,759.2 miles
Scientific Notation: 2.5362 x 104 km
By Comparison: 3.9809 x Earth
Equatorial Circumference
Metric: 159,354.1 km
English: 99,018.1 miles
Scientific Notation: 1.59354 x 105 km
By Comparison: 3.9809 x Earth
Volume
Mass
Metric: 86,810,300,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg
Scientific Notation: 8.6810 x 1025 kg
By Comparison: 14.536 x Earth's
Density
Surface Area
Surface Gravity
Escape Velocity
Effective Temperature
Metric: -216 C
English: -357 F
Scientific Notation: 57 K
Atmospheric Constituents