SPACE — Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the third largest planet in the solar system. Although Uranus is visible to the naked eye, this celestial body has long been mistaken for a star due to its dimness and slow orbit.
The planet is also noted for its dramatic tilt, which causes its axis to point almost directly at the sun. There are still many mysteries about the planet Uranus.
One of the biggest mysteries is why Uranus is the coldest planet in the Solar System, even though Uranus is not the planet furthest from the Sun.
Reporting from Spacethe following are facts about the planet Uranus:
Who discovered Uranus?
British astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus on March 13, 1781. He discovered Uranus while observing all stars up to 10 times fainter than could be seen with the naked eye. One star looked different, and within a year Herschel realized that what he thought was a star was actually a planet.
Uranus, the only planet with the name of a Greek God
Uranus is named after the Greek sky god Ouranos, the earliest ruler of the heavens. Uranus is the only planet named after a Greek god, not a Roman one.
Before the name Uranus was established, many names had been proposed for the planet, including Hypercronius (above Saturn), Minerva (Roman goddess of wisdom) and Herschel, after its discoverer.
German astronomer Johann Bode, detailing the orbit of Uranus, gave the planet its name.
Ice Giant
Uranus is blue-green due to methane gas in most of its hydrogen-helium atmosphere. This planet is often nicknamed an ice giant, because at least 80 percent of its mass is a mixture of liquid water, methane and ammonia ice.
The composition of Uranus’ atmosphere is 82.5 percent hydrogen, 15.2 percent helium, and 2.3 percent methane. Its internal structure consists of a water mantle, ammonia and methane ice, and an iron and magnesium silicate core. Uranus’ average distance from the sun is approximately 2.9 billion km), about 19 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
Unlike the other planets in the solar system, Uranus is tilted in such a way that it orbits the Sun with its axis of rotation almost pointing towards the sun. This unusual orientation may have been caused by a collision with a planet-sized object, or several small objects, when the planet was initially forming.
A 2018 study suggested that the colliding world may have been twice the size of Earth.
This unusual tilt gives rise to extreme seasons that last about 20 years. This means that for almost a quarter of Uranus’ year (which is equivalent to 84 Earth years) the sun shines directly over each pole, causing the other half of the planet to experience a long, dark, and very cold winter.
Uranus has the coldest atmosphere of any planet in the solar system, although it is not the furthest from the Sun. That’s because Uranus has little or no internal heat.
2023-10-30 23:15:00
#Facts #Uranus #farthest #planet #sun #coldest #temperature
