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Uranus is a icey planet.

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Hi I’m a planet

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Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun.

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The Literary Moons

"Sweet Moon," William Shakespeare wrote in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "I thank thee for thy sunny beams; I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright."

Centuries later, the moons of Uranus pay homage to the famous playwright. While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, Uranus' moons are unique in being named for Shakespearean characters, along with a couple of the moons being named for characters from the works of Alexander Pope.

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"Sweet Moon," William Shakespeare wrote in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "I thank thee for thy sunny beams; I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright." Centuries later, the moons of Uranus pay homage to the famous playwright.

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Uranus has a day temperature that is usually around -357%f and the night temperature can get as low as -224%f.

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Most of the asteroids in the Astroid Belt are made of rock and stone, but a small portion of them contain iron and nickel.

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Uranus has 27 moons which are all named after Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare characters. Three of their names are Cupid, Ariel, Juliet.

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Uranus was discovered by William Herschel on March 13th, 1781. He discovered the plant while looking at a group of stars.

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An asteroid is a rocky body in space which may be only a few hundred feet wide or it may be several hundred miles wide.

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The asteroid belt probably contains millions of asteroids.

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Uranus is visible to the naked eye

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The rings of Uranus were the first to be seen after Saturn's.

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NASA's Voyager 2 was the first and as yet only spacecraft to visit Uranus.

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The tilt of the planets axis is at a strange 98 degrees which is very different from all of the other planets in the solar system.

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The four largest asteroids in the belt are Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea.

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Some asteroids in the Belt are quite large, but most range in size down to pebbles.

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The Asteroid Belt is located in an area of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

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The Asteroid Belt may contain many objects, but they are spread out over a huge area of space.

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Over a half-million asteroids have been discovered by scientists.

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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It's 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."

Facts about Uranus

Uranus was officially discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
It is too dim to have been seen by the ancients. At first Herschel thought it was a comet, but several years later it was confirmed as a planet. Herscal tried to have his discovery named "Georgian Sidus" after King George III. The name Uranus was suggested by astronomer Johann Bode. The name comes from the ancient Greek deity Ouranos.

Uranus turns on its axis once every 17 hours, 14 minutes.
The planet rotates in a retrograde direction, opposite to the way Earth and most other planets turn.

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 is often referred to as an "ice giant" planet.
Like the other gas giants, it has a hydrogen upper layer, which has helium mixed in. Below that is an icy "mantle, which surrounds a rock and ice core. The upper atmosphere is made of water, ammonia and the methane ice crystals that give the planet its pale blue colour.

Uranus hits the coldest temperatures of any planet.
With minimum atmospheric temperature of -224°C Uranus is nearly coldest planet in the solar system. While Neptune doesn't get as cold as Uranus it is on average colder. The upper atmosphere of Uranus is covered by a methane haze which hides the storms that take place in the cloud decks.

Uranus has two sets of very thin 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 Uranus's 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 Alexander 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.

Only one spacecraft has flown by Uranus.
In 1986, the Voyager 2 spacecraft swept past the planet at a distance of 81,500 km. It returned the first close-up images of the planet, its moons, and rings.

Uranus Diagrams

Uranus size compared to Earth

Uranus distance from the Sun and orbital eccentricity

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Uranus Facts - Interesting Facts about Planet Uranus

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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It's 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."

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The gas (and ice) giant known as Uranus is a fascinating place. The seventh planet from out Sun, Uranus is the third-largest in terms of size, the fourth-largest in terms of mass, and one of the least dense objects in our Solar System. And interestingly enough, it is the only planet in the Solar System that takes it name from Greek (rather than Roman) mythology.

But these basic facts really only begin to scratch the surface. When you get right down to it, Uranus is chock full of interesting and surprising details - from its many moons, to its ring system, and the composition of its aqua atmosphere. Here are just ten things about this gas/ice giant, and we guarantee that at least one of them will surprise you.

1. Uranus is the coldest planet in the Solar System:

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, orbiting at a distance of 2.88 billion km. But it's still much closer than Neptune, which averages a distance of 4.5 billion km from the Sun. However, this does not prevent Uranus from being colder than Neptune. Whereas the former experiences an average temperature of 72 K (-201 °C/-330 °F), reaching a low of 55 K (-218 °C/-360 °F).

In contrast, the temperatures at the cloud tops on Uranus (which is defined as "surface temperature" for gas giants) averages 76 K (-197.2 °C/-323 °F), but can dip as low as 47 K (-226 °C/-375 °F). This is due to the fact that, unlike the other large planets in the Solar System, Uranus actually gives off less heat than it absorbs from the Sun. While the other large planets have tremendously hot cores, which radiate infrared radiation, Uranus' core cooled down to the point that it no longer radiates much energy.

2. Uranus orbits the Sun on its side:

All of the planets in the Solar System rotate on their axis, with a tilt that's similar to the Sun. In many cases, planet's have an axial tilt, where one of their poles will be inclined slightly towards the Sun. For example, the axis of the Earth's rotation is tilted 23.5-degrees away from the Sun's plane. Mars is similar, with a tilt of about 24 degrees, which results in seasonal changes on both planets.

But the axial tilt of Uranus is a staggering 99 degrees! In other words, the planet is rotating on its side. All the planets look a bit like spinning top as they go around the Sun, but Uranus looks more like a ball rolling in a circular pattern. And this leads to another strange fact about Uranus...

3. A Season on Uranus lasts one long day - 42 years:

A sidereal day on Uranus (that is, the time it takes for the planet to complete a single oration on its axis) is only about 17 hours long. But the tilt of Uranus is so pronounced that one pole or the other is usually pointed towards the Sun. This means that a day at the north pole of Uranus lasts half of a Uranian year - 84 Earth years.

So, if you could stand on the north pole of Uranus, you would see the Sun rise in the sky and circle around for 42 years. By the end of this long, drawn-out "summer", the Sun would finally dip down below the horizon. This would be followed by 42 years of darkness, otherwise known as a single "winter" season on Uranus.

4. Uranus is the second-least dense planet:

The least dense planet in the Solar System is Saturn. In fact, with a mean density of , Saturn's body is actually less dense than water (1 g/cm³). This means that the planet would float in a pool, provided it were roughly 60,000 km wide. With a mean density of 1.27 g/cm ³, Uranus has the second-lowest density of any planet in the Solar System.

This low density has an interesting side effect. Despite the fact that Uranus is 14.5 times as massive as the Earth, its significantly lower density means that you would only experience about 89% the force of gravity, assuming you could stand on Uranus' cloud tops.

5. Uranus has rings:

When it comes to ring systems, Saturn's are the most famous. In addition to be colorful and far-reaching, they are also highly visible. One could spot them using nothing more than a backyard telescope. But in truth, all the gas and ice giants have their own ring systems, and Uranus' is the second most dramatic set of rings in the Solar System.

However, these rings are composed of extremely dark particles which vary in size from micrometers to a fraction of a meter - hence why they are not nearly as discernible as Saturn's. Thirteen distinct rings are presently known, the brightest being the epsilon ring. And with the exception of two very narrow ones, these rings usually measure a few kilometers in width.

The rings are probably quite young, and are not believed to have formed with Uranus. The matter in the rings may once have been part of a moon (or moons) that was shattered by high-speed impacts. From numerous pieces of debris that formed as a result of those impacts, only a few particles survived, in stable zones corresponding to the locations of the present rings.

6. The atmosphere of Uranus contains "ices":

Compared to Jupiter and Uranus, Neptune seems quite... normal. When one looks at the swirling clouds and eddies that stream across the surface of Jupiter and Saturn, the violent and turbulent nature of their atmospheres is made clear. Uranus, by contrast, appears as a light and uniform blue. But thanks to improved instruments that can examine planets through other wavelengths (i.e. infrared) and the flyby conducted by the spacecraft, some significant things become apparent.

For example, Uranus has powerful zonal winds within its atmosphere that can reach up to 250 m/s (900 km/h, 560 mph), and can generate anticyclonic storms like Jupiter's Great Red Spot (known as the " Dark Spot "). It also has cloud patterns that differ between hemispheres, some of which last for mere hours while others can persist for years or decades.

But perhaps most interesting is the presence of certain "ices" in Uranus' atmosphere. The third-most-abundant component of Uranus's atmosphere is methane (CH), which is what accounts for Uranus' aquamarine color. There are also trace amounts of other hydrocarbons, such as ethane, acetylene, methylacetylene, and diacetelyne - all of which are believed to be the result of methane interacting with solar ultraviolent radiation (aka. photolysis).

And last, there are confirmed traces of water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide within the layers of Uranus' atmosphere. And due to the extreme cold, they are suspended in an icy state (hence the term "ice giant").

7. Uranus has 27 moons:

Like all of the giant planets, Uranus has its share of moons. At present, astronomers have confirmed the existence of 27 natural satellites. But for the most part, these moons are small and irregular.If you were to add up all of their masses, they would still be less than the half the mass of Triton, Neptune's largest moon. However, unlike Triton, Uranus' larger moons are all believed to have formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the planet, rather than being captured objects.

The largest moons of Uranus are, in order of size, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon and Titania. These moons range in diameter and mass from 472 km and 6.7 × 10 ¹⁹ kg for Miranda to 1578 km and 3.5 × 10 ²¹ kg for Titania. Each of these moons is particularly dark, with low bond and geometric albedos. Ariel is the brightest while Umbriel is the darkest.

Each one is comprised of roughly equal amounts of rock and ice, except for Miranda which is made primarily of ice, which may include ammonia and carbon dioxide, while the rocky material is believed to be composed of carbonaceous material. Their compositions are believed to be differentiated, with an icy mantle surrounding a rocky core. In the case of Titania and Oberon, it is believed that liquid water oceans may exist at the core/mantle boundary.

The rest of Uranus' moons, which are either situated within the orbit of Miranda or beyond Oberon, are all connected to Uranus' ring system, which probably resulted from the fragmentation of one or several small inner moons. All of them are composed of ices contaminated with a dark material, which are most likely organic compounds darkened by exposure to UV radiation.

8. Uranus was the first planet discovered in the modern age:

Most of the planets are visible to the unaided eye, and were known in ancient times. Uranus was the first planet discovered after the invention of the telescope. It was first recorded in 1690 by John Flamsteed, who thought it was a star in the constellation Tauri. But it wasn't until Sir William Herschel made his observations in 1781 that astronomers finally realized it was a planet.

Herschel originally wanted to call Uranus "George's Star" after King George III of England. However, this was not a popular name outside of England. Eventually, the astronomical community officially settled on the name Uranus - the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos - and the name stuck.

9. You can see Uranus with the unaided eye:

You might be surprised to know that you can see Uranus without a telescope. At magnitude 5.3, Uranus is just within the brightness scale that a human eye can perceive. Unfortunately, you'd need to make sure that the night sky was extremely dark (i.e. no light pollution), and would have to know exactly where to look.

Because of this, Uranus has actually been spotted many times in the past by ancient and pre-modern astronomers. But given its low luminosity compared to the other planets, it was generally mistaken for a star. In fact, when Flamsteed first observed it, he cataloged it as 34 Tauri, believing it to be a star in the Taurus constellation.

10. Uranus has only been visited once:

Only one spacecraft in the history of spaceflight has ever made a close approach to Uranus. NASA's Voyager 2 conducted its closest approach to Uranus on January 24th, 1986, passing within 81,000 km of the cloud tops of Uranus. It took thousands of photographs of the gas/ice giant and its moons before speeding off towards its next target: Neptune.

No other spacecraft have ever been sent towards Uranus, and there are currently no plans to send any more. The possibility of sending the spacecraft from Saturn to Uranus was evaluated during a mission extension planning phase in 2009. However, this never came to fruition, as it would have taken about twenty years for Cassini to get to the Uranian system after departing Saturn. While several proposals are currently under consideration, none have been confirmed yet.

We have written many interesting articles about Uranus here at Universe Today. Here's one about the Tilt of Uranus, the Atmosphere of Uranus, The Rings of Uranus, and How Many Moons Does Uranus Have?

Astronomy Cast also has some fascinating episodes on the subject, including: Episode 62: Uranus and Episode 199: The Voyager Program,

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The gas (and ice) giant known as Uranus is a fascinating place. The seventh planet from out Sun, Uranus is the third-largest in terms of size, the fourth-largest in terms of mass, and one of the least dense objects in our Solar System. And interestingly enough, it is the only planet in the Solar System ...

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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and has the third-largest diameter in our solar system. It was the first planet found with the aid of a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel, although he originally thought it was either a comet or a star.

It was two years later that the object was universally accepted as a new planet, in part because of observations by astronomer Johann Elert Bode. Herschel tried unsuccessfully to name his discovery Georgium Sidus after King George III. Instead, the scientific community accepted Bode's suggestion to name it Uranus, the Greek god of the sky, as suggested by Bode.​

Go Farther

Everything you need to know about Uranus.

Uranus In Depth

Ten Things to Know About Uranus
Pop Culture

Uranus is the source of more than a few jokes and witty (and not so witty) puns, but the ice giant and its moons has been a serious destination various fictional stories, and on TV shows such as "Doctor Who." The radioactive element uranium was named after Uranus when it was discovered in 1789, just eight years after the planet was discovered.

Read More

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The seventh planet from the sun with the third largest diameter in our solar system, Uranus is very cold and windy.

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Planet Uranus: Facts About Its Name, Moons and Orbit

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Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the third largest planet in the solar system. Although Uranus is visible to the naked eye, it was long mistaken as a star because of the planet's dimness and slow orbit. The planet is also notable for its dramatic tilt, which causes its axis to point nearly directly at the sun.

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It was discovered by William Herschel in 1781.

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Uranus is 1.784 billion mi away from the sun.

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Uranus was named after an ancient Greek king of the gods.

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Uranus is 15,759 mi wide.

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Uranus is about 4 times bigger than Earth 🌏

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The total volume of Uranus is 6.833×10¹³km³.

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You could fit 63 Earths inside Uranus, and still have room to spare.

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Welcome to my Uranus project.

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During this project it will show you many facts about Uranus.

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So go ahead and start when you’re ready.

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A day on Uranus is 17 hours, 14 minutes and 24 seconds. In other words, a day on Uranus is shorter than a day on Earth.

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On Uranus it’s about 84 Earth years, to complete a whole year on Uranus.

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Uranus does not have a solid surface, because the upper atmosphere is gas and as you approach the core you would see the gas gradually turn into ice liquid.

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The composition at the surface of Uranus is hydrogen, helium and methane.

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The liquid core makes up 80 percent of the mass of the planet, mostly comprised of water, methane, and ammonia ice, though it only extends to about 20 percent of the radius.

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Uranus is made up of Molecular hydrogen: 82.5 percent. Helium: 15.2 percent. Methane: 2.3 percent.

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Uranus has a total of 27 moons. Three of the moons are Cupid, Oberon, and Umbriel.

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Cupid is a total of 18km.

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Oberon is 1,523 kilometers.

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Umbriel is 363 mi.

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In the day Uranus can get up to  -357 degrees and 216 degrees Celsius

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But in the night time it can get to minus 353 F and minus 214 C.

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Uranus has a total of 13 rings.

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YNW Melly - Murder On My Mind (3D Audio, Use Headphones)

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Khalid - Talk (Instrumental) D/L Link In Bio

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Wavy Mellow Rap Beat "Mellow" | Wavy Mellow Trap Beat Instrumental (Prod. Chuki Beats)

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Lil Peep & XXXTentacion - Falling Down (Instrumental reprod. Kaiøh)

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A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Drowning 🔊8D AUDIO🔊