Profile:
Mass: 86,810,300,000,000,000 billion kg (14.536 x Earth)
Equatorial Diameter: 51,118 km
Polar Diameter: 49,946 km
Equatorial Circumference: 159,354 km
Known Moons: 27
Notable Moons: Oberon, Titania, Miranda, Ariel & Umbriel
Known Rings: 13
Orbit Distance: 2,870,658,186 km (19.22 x Earth's Distance to the Sun)
Orbit Period: 30,687.15 Earth days (84.02 Earth years)
Surface Temperature: -197 °Ca
Uranus is the only giant planet whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit. A collision with an Earth-sized object may explain the unique tilt. Nearly a twin in size to Neptune, Uranus has more methane in its mainly hydrogen and helium atmosphere than Jupiter or Saturn. Methane gives Uranus its blue tint.
Uranus Information
Missions:
Strange mega storms sweep Uranus
September 5, 2012
Ever since its equinox in 2007, when the Sun shined directly on its equator, the seventh planet has been becoming more active. Last year it hit a new peak.
When analysing infrared images of Uranus, Prof de Pater's team noticed eight large swirling storms in its northern hemisphere in August 2014. One of these storms was the brightest ever observed.
Watch the Moon Photobomb Uranus
June 11, 2015
Scientists are calling it "Uranus, interrupted." For a moment on Thursday, Uranus will disappear from the sky, eclipsed briefly by the moon.
"The moon is going to cover up - we say photobomb - Uranus," Slooh astronomer Bob Berman told CBS News. "That is surprisingly rare to see the moon occult a planet in the solar system. Uranus isn't the brightest of all of them but anybody can see it with binoculars."
10 Need-to-Know Things About Uranus:
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If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a nickel and Uranus would be about as big as a baseball.
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Uranus orbits our sun, a star. Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun at a distance of about 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion miles).
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One day on Uranus takes about 17 hours (the time it takes for Uranus to rotate or spin once). Uranus makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Uranian time) in about 84 Earth years.
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Uranus is an ice giant. Most (80 percent or more) of the planet's mass is made up of a hot dense fluid of "icy" materials – water (H2O), methane (CH4). and ammonia (NH3) – above a small rocky core.
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Uranus has an atmosphere which is mostly made up of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He), with a small amount of methane (CH4).
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Uranus has 27 moons. Uranus' moons are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
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Uranus has faint rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark and the outer rings are brightly colored.
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Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus.
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Uranus cannot support life as we know it.
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Like Venus, Uranus has a retrograde rotation (east to west). Unlike any of the other planets, Uranus rotates on its side, which means it spins horizontally.
Image Credit & Copyright: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/ W.W. Keck Observatory
Eight small Uranian satellites, discovered by Voyager 2, can also be seen. Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/JPL/STScI
Uranus' Moons
Latest News About Uranus
Titania and Oberon are Uranus' largest moons. Like all of Uranus' large moons, Oberon is composed of roughly half ice and half rock. Oberon has at least one large mountain that rises about 6 km off the surface. Titania has prominent system of fault valleys, some nearly 1,000 miles long. There is indication of some tectonic extension of Titania's crust, and deposits of highly reflective material, which may represent frost, can be seen along the sun-facing valley walls.
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Montage of Uranus' five largest satellites. From top to bottom in order of decreasing distance from Uranus are Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Ariel, and Miranda. Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/JPL