Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third largest diameter among the planets, but ranks fourth in mass after Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. The following are some interesting facts about Uranus. Let’s read.
Facts about Uranus (everything you need to know)
Orbit of Uranus
- Uranus orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km), which is approximately 19 Astronomical Units (AU). One Astronomical Unit is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. In other words, Uranus is about 19 times farther from the Sun than Earth is.
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- Uranus takes about 84 Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun.
- Uranus takes about 17 hours to complete one rotation on its axis, making its day much shorter than a day on Earth.
1 year on Uranus = ~84 Earth years
1 day on Uranus = ~17 hours
Physical Overview of Uranus
- Uranus has the third largest diameter among all the planets in our solar system, after Jupiter and Saturn.
- Uranus has a larger diameter than Neptune, but it is less massive.
- Water, methane, and ammonia make up more than 80% of Uranusโs mass beneath its atmosphere. These “icy” materials exist in a hot, dense fluid state, above a small rocky core.
- Uranusโs upper atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane. The planet appears bluish-green because methane absorbs red light from the Sun and reflects the blue and green wavelengths.
- Uranus does not have a true surface. It has a small rocky core. The temperatures near the core are extremely high.
- The outermost parts of the planet have very low temperatures, as low as -224 degrees Celsius (-371 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Uranusโs average density is about one-fourth that of Earth. In fact, it is the second least dense planet in our solar system, after Saturn.
Earth’s average density = 5,514 kg/m3
Uranus’s average density = 1,271 kg/m3
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- Uranus is about four times wider than Earth.
Mean radius of Uranus = 25,362 km
Mean radius of Earth = 6,371 km
- Uranus is about 14.5 times heavier than Earth.
Mass of Uranus = 86.813 * 10^24 kg
Mass of Earth = 5.9724 * 10^24 kg
- Uranusโs rotational axis is tilted at an angle of about 97.8 degrees relative to its orbital axis. You can imagine Uranus as a planet that rolls around the Sun on its side.
Rings of Uranus
All four giant planets have rings around them. Uranus has 13 known rings. These rings are named as Zeta, 6, 5, 4, Alpha, Beta, Eta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Epsilon, Nu and Mu (ฮถ, 6, 5, 4, ฮฑ, ฮฒ, ฮท, ฮณ, ฮด, ฮป, ฮต, ฮฝ and ฮผ) in the increasing order of their distance from Uranus.
(Also read: 10 quick facts about the Solar System)
Natural satellites of Uranus
- There are 29 known moons of Uranus. The three largest ones are Titania, Oberon,
and Umbriel. - Titania is the largest moon of Uranus. It is also the eighth-largest moon in our solar system.
- Most of Uranusโs moons are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
Uranus vs Earth comparison
| Uranus | Earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Radius | 25,362 km (15,759.2 miles) | 6,371 km (3,959 miles) |
| Mass | 86.813 * 10^24 kg | 5.9724 * 10^24 kg |
| Planet type | Gas/Ice giant | Terrestrial |
| Position from the Sun | 7th | 3rd |
| Day length | ~17 hours | ~24 hours |
| Year length | ~84 Earth years | ~365 days |
| Time taken by sunlight to reach | around 2 hours 40 minutes | around 8 minutes 20 seconds |
| Average distance from the Sun | 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion miles) | 150 million km (93 million miles) |
| Ring System | Yes | No |
Additional facts about Uranus
- Uranus was discovered by William Herschel on 13 March 1781.
- Uranus was the first planet to be discovered with the help of a telescope.
- Sunlight takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach Uranus.
- Uranus was named after the Greek primordial god of the sky.