10 Interesting Facts About Uranus (The Ice Giant!!!)

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. While being visible to the naked eye, it was not recognized as a planet due to its dimness and slow orbit. Uranus became the first planet discovered with the use of a telescope. Uranus is tipped over on its side with an axial tilt of 98 degrees. It is often described as “rolling around the Sun on its side.”

Interesting Facts about Uranus:

Uranus is the smallest of the four “giants”, but is still several times larger than the Earth.  It has a diameter of 29297 miles, or 47, 150 kilometers, compared to the Earth’s diameter of just under 8000 miles, or 12,760 kilometers.

Uranus was named after the Greek sky deity Ouranos, the earliest of the lords of the heavens. It is the only planet to be named after a Greek god rather than a Roman one. Before the name was settled on, many names had been proposed for the new planet, including Hypercronius ("above Saturn"), Minerva (the Roman goddess of wisdom), and Herschel, after its discoverer. German astronomer Johann Bode, who detailed Uranus' orbit, gave the planet its ultimate name. Bode argued that as Saturn was the father of Jupiter, the new planet should be named for the father of Saturn. Bode's colleague, Martin Klaproth, supported his choice and named his newly discovered element "uranium."

Uranus was officially discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781

It is too dim to have been seen by the ancients. At first Herschel thought it was a comet, but several years later it was confirmed as a planet. Herscal tried to have his discovery named “Georgian Sidus” after King George III. The name Uranus was suggested by astronomer Johann Bode. The name comes from the ancient Greek deity Ouranos.

Uranus rotates on its axis once every 17 hours and 14 minutes

A day on Uranus is 17 hours, 14 minutes and 24 seconds. In other words, a day on Uranus is shorter than a day on Earth. Like Venus, it turns in a retrograde direction which is opposite to the direction Earth and the other six planets turn.

Year on Uranus is 84 Earth Years

Its axis is at 98 degrees, which means it almost lies sideways as it orbits the Sun. This means that the north and south poles of Uranus lie near where the equator is on Earth. During parts of its orbit one or other of the poles directly face the Sun which means the planet gets around 42 years of direct sunlight followed by 42 years of darkness.

Uranus is often referred to as the “ice giant”

While it has a hydrogen and helium upper layer like the other gas giants, Uranus also has an icy mantle which surrounds its rock and iron core. The upper atmosphere of water, ammonia and methane ice crystals gives Uranus its distinctive pale blue color.

Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system

The minimum surface temperature on Uranus is -224°C, making it the coldest of the eight planets. Its upper atmosphere is covered with a haze made mostly of methane which hides the storms taking place in its cloud decks.

Uranus has two sets of very thin dark colored rings

The ring particles are small, ranging from a dust-sized particles to small boulders. There are eleven inner rings and two outer rings. They probably formed when one or more of Uranus’s moons were broken up in an impact. The first rings were discovered in 1977 with the two outer rings being discovered in Hubble Space Telescope images between 2003 and 2005.

The chemical element, Uranium, discovered in 1789, was named after the newly discovered planet Uranus.

Uranus has a total of 27 moons, most of whom are named after characters in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The five major moons are called Titania, Oberon, Miranda, Ariel and Umbriel.  Umbriel is not from Shakespeare but is the “melancholy sprite” in a poem by Alexander Pope.