Uranus

By: Mary Clare Connor and Katherine Peyton Elder

Discovery of Uranus
Discovered on March 13, 1781
Sir William Herschel first to record the movement of the dim planet Herschel recorded a faint object that he originally thought to be a comet Became first planet discovered beyond the 5 planets that are visible with the naked eye.

Naming Uranus
Herschel was rewarded greatly for his discovery by King George III of England Herschel originally wanted to name the new planet George Star after his beloved king The astronomy community strived to keep the tradition of naming the planets after the Roman gods. Uranus was the Roman and Greek god of the sky.

The Size of Uranus (its huge)

Uranus is the 3rd largest planet in the solar system
Diameter: 31,763 miles (51,118 kilometers) Uranus is about 4x bigger than Earth

Uranus' mass is about 8.68 x 1025 kg.

Mass is about 14x that of Earths

Density of Uranus
The density of Uranus is 1.27 g/cm.
Despite being larger than Earth its density is just of Earths

Internal Composition
Uranus is a frozen, gaseous planet.
Uranus is composed primarily of rock and various ices, with only about 15% hydrogen and a little helium It appears that Uranus does not have a rocky core like Jupiter and Saturn but rather that its material is more or less uniformly distributed The upper atmosphere is thought to have a high-level petrochemical haze that obscures features lower in the atmosphere.

Composition of Uranus

Atmospheric Composition
The planet is shrouded in an icy cloud layer
This is made up of frozen methane, ethane, and acetylene Circles Uranus at 185 mph (300 kph) Uranus' icy atmosphere consist of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium and 2% methane

Magnetic Field
Uranus is surrounded by a strong magnetic field
Most planets have magnetic fields lined up with their north and south poles Uranus's magnetic field is closer to the equator than its poles. Makes the magnetic field wobble back and forth as the planet spins.

Rate of Rotation
Uranus rotates once every 17 hours 14 minutes 24 seconds, as determined from the rate of rotation of its magnetic field. Various portions of its atmosphere rotate around the planet as much as an hour faster or slower than this, depending upon their direction and speed of motion, relative to the overall rotation of the planet

Revolution Around the Sun

Uranus revolves around the sun is every 30,685 Uranus days.
On Earth that is equivalent to 84 years

Evidence of Water on Uranus?

Astronomers suspect there is a great amount water on Uranus.
Since theyve never actually sampled the surface of the planet, they cannot know if there is any water or if there is not. Astronomers suspect there is lots of water on Uranus. Since theyve never actually sampled the surface of the planet

Exploration of Uranus
Everything we know about Uranus comes from looking through a telescope.
Only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, has ever made a close flyby of the planet.

The Voyager 2 launched in August 20, 1977 by NASA

Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to do a flyby of Neptune and Uranus

Voyager 2 is still in progress today having visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

Voyager 2

Evidence of Life???
Uranus has strong gravity and extremely cold temperatures (-270 degrees F to -380 degrees F).
There is extreme energy from lightning and ultraviolet light.

Uranus is made of methane, ethane and other sophisticated gases. These materials, combined with the energy from lightning, ultraviolet light, and charged particles would not allow life to grow and begin

Evidence of Plate Tectonics on Uranus

Uranus is made of gas, therefore there can be no plates
In the images from the Voyager 2 there are no physical characteristics This is most likely due to fact that the upper atmosphere has a high-level petrochemical haze that obscures the features and planet from being viewed.

Fun Facts about Uranus

It has 27 moons Uranus has 20 moons that are named plus 1 recently discovered one which as yet has not been given an official name. Uranus is the coldest planet in the entire solar system

Uranus is 1st planet discovered in modern age Uranus can be seen without a telescope or binoculars.