Planet Uranus

Uranus is the 1st planet to be discovered with the help of a telescope.

Like the planet Neptune, the planet Uranus was not discovered by ancient civilizations. Uranus was discovered by William Herschel, a British astronomer in 1781.

In 1690, John Flamsteed discovered Uranus with the help of a telescope. He wrongly attributed it to a star in the constellation of Taurus. 

On March 13, 1781, William Herschel, a British astronomer discovered the planet. Initially, he thought it to be a comet but later confirmed that it was a planet.

In 1789, the chemical Uranium was discovered. It was named after the planet Uranus by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist.

Facts About Planet Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. The distance of Uranus from the Sun is 1.783 billion miles.

Uranus is a gas giant. It is mainly made of helium and hydrogen gas like the other gas giants. The other three gas giants are Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune.

The upper atmosphere of Uranus is very cold. Hence, the methane gas condenses and forms a thin layer, giving a blue-green color.

It has the most unusual tilt of all the planets. It is tilted 98º hence Uranus rotates sideways rather than on its axis. If all planets are rotating as a top Uranus rotates like a ball.

The rotation of Uranus is retrograde, its rotation on its axis is clockwise which is from west to east. Leaving Uranus and Venus all planets rotate in an anti-clockwise direction.

Uranus has thirteen known rings. The rings are made of rocks, ice, and dust. The rings measure a few km. They are named using numerical values and Greek symbols. They are 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν, and μ.

Uranus is a cold planet. It is far from the Sun so it never gets warm. The minimum temperature of the planet Uranus is -224ºC (-435°F).

There are two ice giant planets. They are Uranus & Neptune. Uranus is the biggest ice giant planet.

The speed of the wind is extreme in Uranus. The wind blows at a speed of 900 km per hour.

Uranus has 27 moons. There are four large moons they are Ariel, Miranda, Oberon, Titania, and Umbriel.

Planet Uranus Statistics

Mass86.8×1024 kg
Diameter51,118 km
Density1,271 kg/m3
Gravity8.7 m/s2
A tilt of Axis98º
Mean Temperature-195ºC
Distance from the Sun2872.5×106 km
Rotation Period17 hrs. 14 min.
Revolution84.01 Earth years
Satellite27

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