Facts About Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun in our solar system. Following are facts about Uranus for your contemplation.
Facts About Uranus
Uranus is a gas giant similar to Jupiter and Saturn. This means it does not have a solidified, rocky crust, but instead has a flowing gas compressed by the forces of gravity. As one travels into the depths of Uranus, gravity compresses this gas into a more thick matter, but the exact nature of it isn’t known. The gases on Uranus are primarily hydrogen, with smaller amounts of helium and very small amounts of methane. We have only sent a probe by the planet once, which means there are still many facts to be discovered.
Compared to the other planets, Uranus is a fairly recent discovery. Until technological advances occurred, Uranus was always thought to be a distant star. The first person to discovery Uranus is a bit of a muddled affair. John Flamsteed first recorded its existence in 1690, but didn’t consider it a planet. Later, Sir William Herschel catalogued it in 1783, but thought it was a comet. Nonetheless, he is considered the discoverer of the planet.
The odd name of the planet is no accident. After it’s discovery, it went through a number of identities. At one point it was named George’s Star after King George of England. When it was pointed out it wasn’t a star, it was renamed Georgian Planet. Those outside of England weren’t happy with the name and others were proposed including Herschel, Astraea, Neptune [which hadn't been discovered yet] and Minerva to name just a few. Eventually, it was agreed to name the planet after Uranus, the Greek God of the sky. Children and adults have giggled ever since then.
Facts about Uranus:
- Uranus has a distinctly blue appearance caused by methane absorbing light form the Sun, but appears greenish when viewed through a telescope.
- Uranus does not have a liquid metallic core like the other gas giants.
- The average temperature on Uranus is around minus 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Uranus has a massive axis tilt of roughly 90 degrees. This means the north and south poles are often located where the equator is on the Earth.
- The reason for the massive tilt of Uranus is unknown.
- Uranus has 13 rings with 2 being very far from the planet.
- The rings are extremely difficult to see from Earth, but were photographed by the Voyager probe as it passed the planet.
- Voyager is the only probe to visit Uranus.
- Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system in diameter.
- It takes Uranus 84 years to make one rotation around the Sun.
- Uranus is located between Saturn and Neptune and is approximately 1.8 billion miles from the Sun.
- Uranus is about four times as large as the Earth and 15 times as heavy.
- Uranus is now known to have 27 moons.
- The moons are named after characters in the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
- Oddly, a number of the moons rotate the opposite direction of Uranus.
- Titania is the largest known moon of Uranus.
Due to a lack of exploration, we simply don’t know all that many facts about Uranus. Unfortunately, we aren’t likely to learn any new facts about Uranus since no new missions are planned for the planet.
