Uranus

The March 2000 announcement verifying the existence of  Uranus’ nineteenth and twentieth moons has brought the planet back into the news. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is the third largest planet following Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is considered a gas giant because it has no solid surface.

In 1781, William Herschel, a British astronomer, discovered Uranus. At first, he thought it was a comet. Originally, Herschel wanted to name the planet after George III, the King of England. He was convinced to name it after Uranus, the god of the sky. The name was selected because Uranus was the father of Saturn.

Voyager 2 visited the planet in 1986. It passed within 51,008 miles (82,000 km) of the planet. Pictures were taken. Scientists confirmed the planet had rings. Voyager 2 identified ten more moons to add to the five already discovered.

Uranus has several unusual features. It has an unusual axis incline. All the other planets are nearly perpendicular. Uranus, however, is on its side as it rotates. Its magnetic field is 48 times that of Earth. Uranus is large enough to hold 64 Earths but it has only 14.5 times as much mass as the Earth.

Scientists believe that Uranus has a core of ice and melted rock. Its atmosphere is supposed to be mainly hydrogen and helium with some methane. Three cloud layers cover the planet. The top layer is believed to be ammonia. The next layer is ammonium hydrosulfide. Clouds of water ice are in the third level.

NASA does not currently have plans for a future probe to Uranus. Additional information will be obtained from analyzing photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Uranus Facts

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