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Description

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, was found by William Herschel through a telescope he had made himself. Smaller and denser than Jupiter or Saturn, Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System. With a mean diameter of 50,724 kilometers, it is nearly four times the size of the Earth. The deep Uranian atmosphere of hydrogen and helium also contains methane gas, which gives the planet its blue-green color. Cloud belts around Uranus are very cold, with temperatures of below - 185°C. The axis of Uranus is tilted in an unusual way. No planet has its axis exactly perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, but most have axes tilted by no more than 30 degrees. Yet the axis of Uranus is tilted at an angle of 98 degrees, so that north or south pole faces the Sun at regular intervals. This produces a very strange pattern of seasons because Uranus rotates virtually on its side. In 1977, a system of very narrow, dark rings was discovered. Uranus was seen to pass in front of a faint star, which faded briefly several times before disappearing behind Uranus, then faded again several times after reappearing.

Rendered using SpaceEngine

Description

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, was found by William Herschel through a telescope he had made himself. Smaller and denser than Jupiter or Saturn, Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System. With a mean diameter of 50,724 kilometers, it is nearly four times the size of the Earth. The deep Uranian atmosphere of hydrogen and helium also contains methane gas, which gives the planet its blue-green color. Cloud belts around Uranus are very cold, with temperatures of below - 185°C. The axis of Uranus is tilted in an unusual way. No planet has its axis exactly perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, but most have axes tilted by no more than 30 degrees. Yet the axis of Uranus is tilted at an angle of 98 degrees, so that north or south pole faces the Sun at regular intervals. This produces a very strange pattern of seasons because Uranus rotates virtually on its side. In 1977, a system of very narrow, dark rings was discovered. Uranus was seen to pass in front of a faint star, which faded briefly several times before disappearing behind Uranus, then faded again several times after reappearing.

Rendered using SpaceEngine