Nowadays, Robert is dedicated to helping others find the right optics for their needs. His hobbies include astronomy, astrophysics, and model building.
Optics Mag is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Read more. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium like Jupiter and Saturn, but it also has methane. The methane makes Uranus blue. Uranus also has faint rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark. The outer rings are brightly colored and easier to see. Like Venus, Uranus rotates in the opposite direction as most other planets. And unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side.
The Latest. Kid-Friendly Uranus Uranus is made of water, methane, and ammonia fluids above a small rocky center. JPL's lucky peanuts are an unofficial tradition at big mission events. Full Moon Guide: October - November First X-rays from Uranus Discovered. Planetary scientist Geronimo Villanueva created the sunset simulations while building a tool for a possible mission to Uranus. Stay aware and be prepared for the season ahead.
Uranus is the third "gas giant" planet of four in proximity to the Sun. Overall, Uranus is the seventh planet in our solar system, residing at an average distance of 1. Its rotation is quick, at about 18 hours, enough to flatten the planet at its poles a characteristic of all gas giants.
It takes 84 years for Uranus to revolve around the Sun and the aqua-colored planet has 27 known satellites. Six of these satellite discoveries have been since Atmosphere and Weather: For many years, it was generally understood that Uranus was a bland planet.
However, recent analysis from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Uranus to be a weather dynamic planet, characterized by huge storms some covering half or more the United States in size , banded cloud cover and the brightest cloud tops in the outer solar system.
In late , the Hubble telescope discovered a dark cloud on Uranus. This storm was two thirds the size of the United States. Clouds enshroud the planet with a latitudinal banding like Jupiter and Saturn, although much more faint. The average temperature of the clouds is degrees F and ammonia and methane ice crystals make up the cloud composition.
It has been recently found that wind speeds on Uranus range from 90 to mph and the planet's average temperature is a frigid degrees F. The coldest temperature found in Uranus' lower atmosphere so far is degrees F. Findings from Hubble reveal that clouds circle Uranus at over mph. Shown at right, this near infrared picture taken by the Hubble Telescope reveals the bright cloud tops on the left side of the disk.
At their farthest, they are separated by 1. As such, the planet was one of the last to be discovered, as the smallest of the gas giants cannot be seen with the naked eye. In fact, it was the first planet to be found using a telescope. In , Sir William Herschel was scouring the skies above England when he came across a new object.
He originally identified it as a comet, but after significant observation, it was determined to be a planet. Originally, the astronomer wanted to name it for his patron, King George III, but it was ultimately christened after the Greek god of the sky and father of Saturn. Uranus travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun once every 84 Earth years. At its closest perihelion , the distance to Uranus from the star is 1. On average, the planet travels about 19 times as far from the sun as Earth does.
Because Uranus lies so far from the sun, it receives very little in terms of light and warmth from the star.
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