Uranus is out of this
world! Uranus means starry sky in the evening. It is named
after the Greek God of Heaven. Did you know that Uranus was
Neptune's twin? Gaea or "Mother Earth" was Uranus's wife.
She gave birth to the first gods, the Titans, and to the
first humans, or so one legend tells us. Scientists think that
Uranus is lying on its side. They think this because it
probably had a collision with another object in space.
Uranus tilts at a 98 degree angle. Uranus has a strong
magnetic field or "planetessimal" that competes with its no
gravity atmosphere. This competitive field has electrons and
protons that are trapped inside. As the planet turns, it
causes the magnetic field to wobble back and
forth. Uranus has 18 known
satellites, also called moons. They can be within or outside
of Uranus's rings. Out of all of the 5 large satellites,
Miranda is smallest. She has the most spectacular features
in all our entire Solar System. These "spectacular features"
are oddly shaped regions called "ovoids". Yet another moon
has been found on Uranus! This makes the 18th moon that
belongs to Uranus. Uranus has now tied with Saturn for the
most moons. In 1986, Voyager 2 found the moon. At that time,
only 9 satellites/moons had been found! This "new moon" made
#10. The evidence that was found in 1986 is now 13 years
old. After one more year, this "new moon" will be named. So
far, all of Uranus's moons have been named after
Shakespeare's plays. They are: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca,
Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, and
Puck. There are also seven icy moons. There names are:
Miranda, Arie1, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Caliban, and
Sycuray. These icy moons are "small moons" or a moon that is
hard to see. Did you know that
Uranus's rings were not discovered until 1977? Scientists
didn't even know that Uranus had rings until then! There are
eleven dark rings varying in size particles. Isn't Uranus
absolutely awesome or what?! Uranus is the best planet ever!
Hopefully this section on this web site has helped you learn
more about Uranus!
