Uranus

Uranus is a very unusual planet. It sits on its side with the north and south poles sticking out the sides. It rotates around this axis, making it look like a ball rolling around in a circle around the Sun.

Basic Facts

	Uranus	Earth
Position from the Sun	7	3
Diameter	31,763 miles (51,118 km)	7,926 miles (12,753 km)
Moons	21	1
Rings	10	0
Average Distance from Sun	1,786,000,000 miles (2,875,000,000 km)	93,000,000 miles (149,000,000 km)
Your Weight on the Planet	Multiply your weight by 0.93	Multiply your weight by 1.0
Length of One Year	84 Earth years	1 Earth year
Length of One Day	17 hours and 8 minutes	24 hours
What’s in the Atmosphere?	Hydrogen, helium	Nitrogen, oxygen
Temperature	-360ºF (-220ºC)	-128ºF to 136ºF (-89ºC to 58ºC)

Discovery

Astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781. Using a telescope, he spotted a dim object. He watched it for years and decided it had to be a planet given its orbit.

Herschel also discovered two of Uranus’ moons in 1781. Voyager II spotted many of its other moons in 1986.

In 1977, scientists saw Uranus blink several times. They later discovered that rings surrounding the planet caused the blinking. These rings are very dark and narrow, unlike Saturn's, which are bright and colorful. Voyager II sent back many pictures that clearly show these rings.

Missions to Uranus

Mission	Launch Date	Mission Accomplishments
Voyager 2 (USA)	August 20, 1977	Took thousands of pictures of Uranus, its rings, and its moons.

Interesting Facts About Uranus

	Herschel argued with other astronomers over the new planet's name. He wanted to name it after King George III of Great Britain. Other astronomers wanted him to name it after himself.
	Uranus was named after Ouranos, one of the first gods in Greek mythology.
	Uranus’ moons have names from Shakespearean plays.
	Since Uranus lies nearly on its side, its North Pole gets 42 years of daylight while the South Pole gets 42 years of darkness.
	Uranus’ rings might have formed from broken moons.

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Space: Today, Tomorrow, and Always

Novi Meadows Elementary School 2001

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