Uranus: The Bulls-Eye Planet

Overview

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and has the third largest diameter our solar system. Uranus is very cold and windy and rotates at a nearly 90 degree angle from its plane of orbit.

Description

Uranus is formed around 4.5 billion years ago with a radius of 15,759.2 miles (25,362 kilometers). From an average distance of 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers), Uranus is 19.8 astronomical units away from the Sun*. It takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Uranus.

Potential for Life:
Uranus's environment is not too conducive to life as we know it. The temperatures, pressures and materials are most likey too extreme and volatile for living organisms to adapt to.

Orbit and Rotation:
A day on Uranus takes about 17 hours, and completes an orbit around the Sun in about 84 Earth years. Uranus is the only planet whos nearly orbiting at a right angle - with a axis of rotation of 97.77 degrees. The tilt is probably caused from a collision with a Earth like planet. This tilt causes the most extreme seasons in the solar system. This means that, like Earth, Saturn experiences seasons.

Structure:
Uranus is one of the two ice giants in the outer solar system. 80% or more of its mass is made up from hot dense fluid of "icy" materials - water, methane and ammonia. Near the core, it heats up to 4,982 degrees Celsius (9,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

Temperatures:
The temperature on Uranus is around minus 214 degrees Celsius (minus 353 degrees Fahrenheit), with the coldest temperature found so far of minus 224 degrees Celsius (minus 371 degrees Fahrenheit).

Surface:
As a gas giant, Saturn doesn’t have a true surface. The planet is mostly swirling gases and liquids deeper down.

Atmosphere:
Uranus' atmosphere is mostly made of hydrogen and helium, with a small ammount of methane, water and ammonia. It is the methane that gives Uranus its signature blue colour. Uranus' atmosphere, with a minimum temperature of 49K (-224.2 degrees Celsius) makes it even colder than Neptune in some places. The wind speeds up to 560 miles per hour (900 kilometers per hour) on Uranus.

Magetosphere:
Uranus has an unusual, irregularly shaped magnetosphere - Uranus' magnetic field is tipped over by nearly 60 degrees from the planet's axis of rotation, and is also offset from the center by about one third of the planet's radius. The magnetosphere tail behind Uranus opposite the Sun extends into space for millions of miles.

Moons:
Uranus has 27 known moons. All of Uranus' inner moons appear to be roughly half water ice and half rock. The composition of the outer moons remains unknown, but they are likely captured asteroids.

Rings:
Uranus has two sets of rings, the inner system has nine rings and the outer system has four **.

Fun Facts!

• Uranus has thirteen rings.
• The auroras on Uranus are not in line with its poles, due to the lopsided magnetic field.
• Uranus also rotates clockwise, like Venus.
• Uranus is named after the primordial Roman god of the sky, Uranus.

Footnotes:

*One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the Sun to Earth.

**The rings are named in the order of increasing distance from the planet - Zeta, 6, 5, 4, Alpha, Beta, Eta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Epsilon, Nu, and Mu.