Uranus

Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, was discovered by William Herschel on March 13, 1781. It is a gas giant and the third largest planet in the Solar System.

Facts about Venus

• Uranus's rings may look white in pictures, but they are actually made of asphalt-colored material.
• When it was first discovered Uranus was thought to be a star and was given the number 34 Tauri.
• Uranus is the only planet besides Pluto in our solar system that rotates on its side.

How big is the planet?

Uranus is 51,118 km or 4.007 Earths in diameter. This means that about four Earths placed in a line side by side would be as long as Uranus is across.

What is Uranus surface like?

Uranus has no surface that you could stand on without going deep into the atmosphere.

What are its moons like?

Uranus has 27 discovered moons, which places it third in the solar system for number of moons! The five main ones are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon.

Miranda

Miranda is the smallest and closest of Uranus's major moons. It is mainly made of water ice, and silicate rocks. There are also some methane related organic compounds. Miranda also has canyons 20 km deep. Miranda was named after a character in "The Tempest", a play by Shakespeare. A color composite picture of Miranda was taken with by Voyager 2 on January 24, 1986, from a distance of 147,000 kilometres.

Ariel

Ariel is half water ice with the rest being silicate rocks and methane ice. Ariel doesn't have many craters and has big canyons. Ariel was named after the helpful sprite in "The Tempest" by Shakespeare.

Umbriel

Umbriel is made of lots of water ice and some silicate rocks and methane ice. It is also the darkest of Uranus's major moons. Umbriel was named after a character in the comic poem "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope.

Titania

Titania is the largest moon of Uranus. The majority of it is water ice, with quite a lot of silicate thrown in with some methane related organic compounds. Like Ariel, Titania also has some huge canyons. It was named after the Queen of the Fairies in " A Midsummer's Night Dream", a play by Shakespeare.

Oberon

Oberon is the outermost of the major moons of Uranus. It is very similar to Titania in what it is made of. It has many craters. Some of them have white rays around them and dark crater floors. The dark material may be made of organic compounds. It was named after the King of the Fairies in "A Midsummer's Night Dream".

Other moons of Uranus

There are 13 tiny moons known to be orbiting Uranus inside Miranda's orbit. Nine more tiny moons are known to be in big orbits beyond Oberon's orbit.

How long is a day on Uranus

One day on Uranus is about 17 Earth hours long. Uranus spins on its side. Maybe it was because of a big impact early in the history of the solar system

How long is a year on Uranus

One year on Uranus would be 30,708 days or 84 years on Earth.

What is Uranus made of?

Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus is thought to be made mostly of rock and ices with only 15 percent of it being hydrogen. The gases in its atmosphere are mostly hydrogen and helium. Other gases found in smaller amounts are ammonia, water, and methane. The methane gives Uranus its blue-green color. Under the atmosphere, it is thought that there is an uniform mixture of rocky and icy materials rather than a seperate rocky core.

How much would Uranus's gravity pull on me?

If you were floating close to the cloud tops of Uranus, it would pull you down with a force about nine tenths as strong as the force of Earth's gravity. The effects of Uranus's large radius and its mass almost cancel out, making the force only a little bigger.

Uranus's rotation is not as rapid as that of Jupiter and Saturn. That means its equator does not bulge out as much. So, Uranus's rotation would not cancel out as much of its gravity's force.

Who is Uranus named after?

Uranus was named after Ouranos, the Greek name for the sky. According to Greek mythology, Ouranos was the husband of Gaia, Mother Earth.