Uranus, because of its low luminosity, was mistaken to be a star for several years.Although, in the 18th century in 1781, people finally accepted Uranus as a new planet. The name of this planet was also decided after many conflicts and disagreements.One of the many things that make Uranus unique is the fact that this planet is the only one to be named after a Greek God instead of a Roman. The name Uranus comes from the Greek name Ouranos, who was the God of the skies. Previously, this planet came to be known as Tauri and George’s star. This planet sure can’t house humans but there is no reason why you shouldn’t read ahead and learn about Uranus!Features of Uranus’ SurfaceIf you are interested in the way that the universe works and the planets within our own Solar System, in particular, there are chances that you may have already come across some of the fascinating features of Uranus. Although, the ‘ice giant’ has way more to offer than you might think.Uranus is known as the ‘ice giant’.This ‘ice giant’ gets its name from the fact that the planet’s core, as well as its atmosphere; is composed largely of ice and other such particles.Even the mantle of this planet is composed of icy compounds, which makes the surface uninhabitable for the life that we know of. This planet has hardly been visited by any spacecraft so far.The only notable visit to the Uranus that we know of was made by Voyager 2, which explored the planet and got the closest to it as was possible.A lot of the pictures taken by this spacecraft reveal that its surface was a uniform mass of ice. However, the spacecraft was also able to find some interesting facts about the planet, such as its rings and many moons.Uranus is the seventh planet out of the eight planets in the Solar System and is known for its unusual axial tilt.It was the first planet to be discovered through a telescope.Uranus was thought of as a star due to its low luminosity.Uranus’ atmosphere consists predominantly of three components, hydrogen, methane, and helium.The first one to observe Uranus through a telescope was John Flamsteed.Flamsteed assumed that Uranus was a star of the constellation Taurus.This is why the first name that this planet was ever given was ‘34 Tauri’, corresponding to its position in the Taurus constellation.William Herschel was next to identify the planet, although he made the same mistake of thinking that it was a star.William Herschel wanted to name Uranus as George’s Star or Georgium Sidus, after King George III.Herschel made his discovery in the year 1781.This was nearly a century after Flamsteed’s theories came into play.The name that Herschel proposed was not popular anywhere other than in England, and hence, the idea of changing the name started floating.In the year 1782, what was previously known as George’s star was identified to in fact be a Georgian planet.A change of name was proposed by Johann Bode.The name was inspired by a Greek God, Ouranos.The Greek God ruling the sky was Ouranos.A Latinized version of the name was adopted, which was Uranus.This ice giant is also the second least dense planet in the solar system, after Saturn.Uranus is around four times the size of Earth.This, combined with the fact that the density is low, means that the planet only has around 89% of the Earth’s gravitational pull.The magnetic axis in this gas giant is also quite different.Usually, the magnetic fields of the planets are lined up with the axis. However, in the case of Uranus, the same rule does not apply.Uranus’ magnetic field is around 60 degrees away from its axis.This essentially means that since the magnetic poles are not lined with the axis of the planet, its entire magnetic field becomes lopsided.When it comes to being lopsided, this is not all that Uranus has to offer. Unlike almost all other planets which rotate around an axis that is slightly tilted towards that of the Sun, Uranus’ axial tilt stands at a staggering 98 degrees.This number looks all the more fascinating and huge against the axial tilt of the Earth, which is a mere 23.5 degrees away from the Sun’s plane!This unusual axial tilt is what leads to Uranus having a strange path.This is the only planet that revolves around the Sun sideways.This phenomenon also gives rise to other things within the planet’s atmosphere. Since the axial tilt is so huge, each pole of the planet receives daytime and no light each for a period of 42 years!This is because Uranus takes 84 Earth years to make a complete revolution around the Sun. For half of this period, which is 42 years, the Northern or Southern Hemisphere would be facing the Sun and would receive an oddly long summertime.In this way, the planet’s axis becomes a point of fascination.Uranus has faint rings as compared to Saturn, which is why there are difficult to spot.Uranus’ rings are made of dark particles, which make them more difficult to spot.The images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal that the inner rings are fainter than the outer ones.The inner rings are dull in color, while the outer ones are brightly colored and easier to perceive.In the view of many scientists and space experts, the ring system of Uranus is a product of the destruction of dwarf planets that came near the strong gravitational pull of this planet. According to research, these dwarf planets would be much like our very own Pluto!As of yet, the ring system of Uranus is said to consist of 13 rings.Some of the rings are very tough to spot since the dark materials that they are made up of are very minute and even the width of the rings is not as great as that of Saturn’s rings.Uranus’s core is made up of rock and ice, and estimations show that the mass would be no more than the Earth’s mass.This is a little surprising given the size of Uranus!Uranus’ upper atmosphere is shown to have very powerful zonal winds which give rise to anticyclonic storms.A Hubble Telescope image shows one such storm, which can be compared to the Dark Spot on Jupiter.There are no present plans for any spacecraft to visit Uranus.The only time that this planet was ever visited by a spacecraft from Earth was when Voyager 2 conducted a flyby.This flyby was the source of a lot of the information that we now have about Uranus and Neptune.The planet’s rotation takes place in about 17 hours and 14 minutes, which is a shorter span than that of the Earth.The solar system has two ‘Ice Giants’, which are Uranus and Neptune. Although the surface temperature of Neptune is much lower than that of Uranus.Uranus orbits around the Sun in about 84 Earth years. If there were humans on the planet, they would have to wait for an awfully long time to celebrate a new year!The moons of this planet are named after the characters of plays written by Alexander Pope and Shakespeare!Uranus is also unique since it emits less heat than it absorbs from the Sun, which leads to the very low temperatures of the bright clouds of the planet.The atmospheric pressure on the planet is calculated to be one bar (a unit to measure air pressure in the atmosphere).Being far away from the Sun, Uranus receives a lot less light and heat from the Sun as compared to other planets!Uranus’s atmosphere has a bluish tint because of the methane in it.Uranus has a very slow orbit, which is the reason why it takes so long for it to revolve around the Sun.Uranus has a great distance from the Sun and is the coldest planet in our solar system in spite of the fact that there are other planets that are further away from the large star.Moons Of UranusSome planets in our Solar System have natural satellites and so does, Uranus. This planet’s moons are particularly intriguing in the way that they are only being discovered rather slowly. These moons are also made up of different objects as compared to Earth’s natural satellite. Uranus’ moons are also notable for their names, which would thrill anyone who has a knack for literature and plays.Like all other gas giants, even Uranus has many moons. As of current knowledge, this planet has 27 moons or natural satellites.Most of Uranus’ moons are composed of ice and rocks.The only exception is Miranda, which is completely made up of ice.The largest moons of the planet are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon, and Titania.These are the five major moons of the planet, the others are relatively smaller.The names of some of the other moons of the seventh planet of our Solar System are Cordelia, Ophelia, Cressida, Bianca, Juliet, Desdemona, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Caliban, Stephano, Sycorax, Prospero, and Setebos. Pretty cool, right?How Uranus is different from Earth?Uranus is bound to be quite different from Earth given its place in the Solar System. Chances are that even if this planet has the exact same atmosphere and core composition as that of our own planet, it would still be very different.Uranus’ atmosphere is composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane.Methane is the component in the atmosphere which renders the beautiful aqua-marine color onto this planet.On the other hand, the Earth’s blue color is rendered through the water. Sunlight falling on the water on Earth gets refracted and the blue color shines through, and the green is due to the lush lands.The gravitational pull of Uranus is around 89% as that of Earth.This is quite unusual when we keep in mind that this planet is four times the size of Earth!Uranus has rotated sideways around its axis, which the Earth does not.Earth axial inclination is around 23.5 degrees, while that of Uranus is a staggering 98 degrees!Uranus has a ring system, which Earth does not.Earth has only one natural satellite, while Uranus has 27!The magnetic fields of Uranus and Earth are also different!The atmosphere of Uranus has very scanty clouds, while Earth clearly has many.The atmosphere contains icy substances and cloud tops in Uranus.One Uranian year consists of 84 Earth years.Uranus completes one rotation around its axis in 17 hours and 14 minutes, while Earth takes 23 hours and 56 minutes!Uranus comes close to the Earth during an opposition.In this phenomenon, the Earth is in between a planet and the Sun. Uranus can be easily visible during this time!During this time, Uranus will come close to the Earth by 37.3 million mi (60 million km).Composition Of The Atmosphere On UranusSince Uranus was the first planet to be discovered, it is only natural that humans have wanted to know all about this blue celestial body!There is no true surface in Uranus.The planet consists of fluids that are constantly swirling around.Even if we wanted to understand the planet closely, it would be impossible to send a spacecraft since there is no true surface.Even the atmosphere contains zonal winds which would destroy spacecraft.The atmosphere of this planet consists of hydrogen, helium, and methane.Methane is only found in trace amounts but it gives the color that is characteristic of the planet!A Hubble Space Telescope image shows the outer rings of the planet, as well as the inner ones which are quite dark in appearance.The dark color of the moons are said to have been caused due to the presence of particles that causes radiation!
Uranus, because of its low luminosity, was mistaken to be a star for several years.
