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Uranus has the kudos of being the first planet discovered in modern history, though it nearly didn’t happen.
Astronomer William Herschel was charting stars in the Gemini constellation when he saw a disk-like shape.
He thought it was a comet at first, and reported it. But then he became puzzled when looking at the object’s orbit – it was circular.
Astronomers backed up his findings and Herschel soon realised he’d found a planet.
Uranus is the third of the gas giants and is third largest in diameter.
It’s also unique thanks to its unusual tilt meaning it rotates on its side creating weird seasons.
Uranus facts
| Mbad | 8.68 x 10^25kg (15 Earths) |
| Moons | 27 |
| Measurements | 51,118km diameter, 49,946km polar diameter |
| Orbit | 30,687 days (84.0 years) |
| Discovery date | March 13, 1781 |
| Temperature | -216C |
Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel
In 1781, Herschel spotted Uranus. It was too dim to be seen before, and Herschel thought it was a comet at first. Several years later it was named a planet.
Herschel wanted it called “Georgian Sidus” after King George III, but the name Uranus was suggested by astronomer Johann Bode.
It comes from the ancient Greek God Ouranos.
Uranus axis
The planet turns on its axis every 17 hours and 14 minutes. It rotates the opposite way to Earth and most other planets.
What is Uranus’ orbit?
It makes one trip every 84 years – Earth years that is. During parts of the orbit one of its poles points directly at the Sun and get the equivalent of 42 years of direct sunlight. The rest of the time they’re in darkness.
Why is it called the “ice giant”?
Like other gas giants, Uranus has a hydrogen upper layer with a bit of hellum mixed in. Under that is an icy mantle, surrounding a rock and ice core.
The atmosphere is water, ammonia and methane ice crystals that give the planet it’s blue colour.
Is Uranus the coldest planet?
It’s one of the coldest planets with minimum temperatures of -224c.
Neptune doesn’t get as cold as Uranus, but on average it is colder.
What is the weather like on Uranus?
Cold! There are also strong winds, and cirrus clouds sometimes made of the methane ice crystals. Since Uranus is on its side it has strange seasons. Wind speeds can reach up to 900km per hour.
(Image: PA)
Does Uranus have rings?
It has two sets of very thing dark coloured rings. They are small particles ranging from dust-sized to small boulders.
There are eleven inner rings and two outer ones. It’s most likely they were formed when Uranus’ moons were broken up on impact.
The first ring was discovered in 1977, and two outer rings were discovered in Hubble Space Telescope images between 2003 and 2005.
Overall it has 13 rings, and many are quite young.
What are Uranus’ moons?
The moons were named after characters in William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope’s tales.
There’s Oberon, Titania and Miranda – though there’s seven in total. All are frozen systems with dark surfaces.
They are a mix of ice and rock. Miranda has ice canyons and terraces.
What makes Uranus unique?
The Uranian system has a special configuration – its axis of rotation is sideways. A collision may have caused the unusual tilt.
What are the symbols for Uranus?
♅ – H which is taken from Herschel’s name.
⛢ – from a mix of the Sun and Mars symbols.
Uranus weight
Uranus is the second least dense planet in the solar system, only beaten by Saturn.
Chemical elements
Uranium, which was discovered in 1789, was named after the planet.
Voyager 2
Only one spacecraft has flown by the planet. Voyager 2 flew past in 1986 at 81,500km distance.
It gave us the first close-ups images of Uranus’ moons and rings.
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