In blue mars by kim stanley robinson 1997, ann clayborne and zo boone visit uranus moon miranda, which is being preserved as a primal wilderness. This means the planet is almost twice the distance from the sun than saturn is fact two. Uranus has rings and 27 moons, but we could continue to find more. The angle of the tilt of the axis of uranus is 97 degrees.
Some of these moons orbit within the ring system and others farther away. Dec 21, 2017 take a virtual tour of uranus to learn more about its moons, gravity, composition, rings, and more. The moons of uranus are divided into three categories. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Uranus is the only planet named after a greek god rather than a roman god. The largest are ariel, miranda, oberon, titania, and umbriel. Uranus fun facts for kids uranus, uranus planet, moons of. We hope these 100 cool space facts helped the mystery of space to become well, less mysterious. Since then scientists using the hubble space telescope and powerful earthbased telescopes have continued to discover more moons orbiting uranus. Gave uranus only 3 stars as the uranus moon pics were good and some info, but the rest of the book offered me very little. The coldest planet in our solar system, uranus, also has the record for most moons. From its 27 moons, to being labeled the most boring planet, uranus seems to. Facts about uranus bob the aliens tour of the solar system. But these basic facts really only begin to scratch the surface. Uranus likes to be a little bit different and show off its awesome bluegreen haze. Uranus has 27 moons, all of which were named after characters from the stories of shakespeare and alexander pope. Uranus, named after the the father of the roman god saturn, is the seventh planet in the solar system and third of the gas giants.
The two moons of uranus that are not named after shakespearean characters arlel and umbriel are named after characters in a book called the rape of the lock written by alexander pope. Uranus fun facts for kids uranus, uranus planet, moons. Unfortunately, the composition of those outer moons remains largely unclear. While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, uranus moons are. Facts about uranus uranus, space facts, moon orbit. The five largest moons are rounded, and four of them show some kind of internal activity which shapes their surfaces. For instance, titania was shown to possess no atmosphere at a pressure larger than 1020 nanobar. Many moons are icy moons with fascinating surface features. In the roleplaying game transhuman space, china has begun preliminary harvesting of helium3 from uranus atmosphere to compete against american helium3 harvesting on saturn. List of uranus moons simple english wikipedia, the free. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading 14 fun facts about uranus. All were discovered telescopically from earth, four of them before the 20th century see below observations from earth. The seventh planet from out sun, uranus is the thirdlargest in terms of size, the fourthlargest in terms of mass, and one of the. During the skrullkree war the kree empire established an outpost on uranus which acted as a supply depot for their weapons.
The matter in the rings may once have been part of a moon or moons that was shattered by highspeed impacts. Prior to herschel, uranus was thought to be a star. Top 10 most interesting moons in the solar system owlcation. Uranus has the coldest temperatures of all of the planets, hitting as low as 224 degrees c. This book is an excellent resource to learn about uranus.
While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, uranus moons are unique in being named for shakespearean characters, along with a couple of the moons being named for characters from the works of alexander pope. Titania is the largest moon of uranus and it is covered with small craters, a few large craters, and very rough rocks. If you enjoyed these unusual facts about space, we have plenty more space facts for you to enjoy over at our space category. Interesting facts about the planets while the universe is a big place to study, we shouldnt forget our own backyard. Ariel is the brightest moon of uranus and has canyons and valleys as well as a lot of craters. Of the uranian moons, the most interesting is miranda which has ice canyons, terraces and many strange looking surface area.
Margaret is the only prograde irregular satellite of uranus. Uranus facts interesting facts about planet uranus. Inside planets, dwarf planets and moons in our solar system. The five large moons are called miranda, ariel, umbriel, titania, and oberon. It is the largest of the moons of uranus with an estimated 1600 km diameter. A 15minute book 15 minute books 21 kindle edition by meekins, jeannie. There are fullcolor photographs, a twopage spread on uranus s solar system, sidebars, fun facts scattered throughout the book, illustrations, statistics, important words, an index and additional recommended books and web sites. Conditions on titan may resemble ancient earth conditions, though at a much lower temperature. Uranus has a very unique rotationit spins on its side at an almost 90degree. Voyager 2 focused on these inner moons, so we have discovered more information about them than the planets outer moons.
Interesting cool uranus planet facts facts for kids. If you only count the moons of the planets, there are 166 known moons in the solar system. Already knew i will never see a detailed view of uranus. This five minute video is an edited version of a nasa voyager documentary, with added segments on the planet and its moons and rings. Some of these moons are only 810 miles across, and in some instances, 3 billion miles away from us orbiting neptune.
Uranus has fascinating moons and a complicated ring system. Find out fascinating facts about uranus, including the curious origin of the planets name. He moved to england in 1757 in order to follow a career as a musician but after buying a book on astronomy he became interested only in watching the sky. Ten small inner moons were found by voyager 2 in 198586. Uranus has 27 moons that have been discovered so far. The moons of every other planet in the solar system are named after characters in greek and roman mythology. Moon facts the moon or luna is the earths only natural satellite and was formed 4. Uranus facts interesting facts about planet uranus space facts. Saturns largest moon, titan, is the only known moon to have a substantial atmosphere, which is 370 miles deep, 10 times thicker than earths atmosphere. They are named after characters in works by william shakespeare and alexander pope.
Fascinating facts about uranus did you know science. Titania is composed of rock and ice and its surface is dark and mildly red. Herschel also discovered 2 of uranus moons with a larger telescope. They are listed by how long they take to orbit go around once uranus. Sep, 2014 this five minute video is an edited version of a nasa voyager documentary, with added segments on the planet and its moons and rings. Join us as we head into the universe to discover ten fascinating facts about the moon 10 facts about the moon. Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the first to be discovered by scientists. Uranus facts for kids interesting facts about planet uranus. On 11 july 2011, neptune completed its first full orbit since its discovery in 1846.
Overview uranus moons nasa solar system exploration. Uranus is approximately 3 billion km away from the sun. So far, 27 have been observed orbiting around the planet. The innermost moons are similar in characteristics with the thin rings. Sep 23, 2016 facts about the planet uranus for the greek god, see below uranus is a gas planet. Uranus has 27 known moons discovered through telescopes as well as the. Miranda the innermost and smallest of uranuss five major moons has a diameter of just 472km 290 miles. Arlel and umbriel, are named after characters in a book titled the rape of the lock by. The moon rotates at 10 miles per hour compared to the earths rotation of miles per hour.
Jul 10, 2019 uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the first to be discovered by scientists. Some theories have suggested there was an impact with another object in our solar system that knocked away some material, and that caused a lot of the stored heat energy escaped from the planet. They were the first two discovered, and they were found in 1787 by william herschel. Facts about the moon the moon is not a planet, but a satellite of the earth. The five largest are puck, miranda, ariel, umbriel, titania, and oberon. At the time when this image was collected, only five moons of uranus were known. This is because it has high levels of methane gas and rolls like a barrel rather than spinning like earth and the other planets in our solar system.
At first herschel thought it was a comet, but several years later it was confirmed as a planet. As we can see, her popularity exploded in this period and she was propelled to stardom. The moon is in synchronous rotation with earth meaning the same side is always facing the earth. The two moons that are not named after shakespearean characters. For example, angelina jolie had uranus transiting her 10th house roughly from 201011201819, the house containing her midheaven. No other spacecraft has approached uranus as close as voyager 2 yet. Like the giant planets, uranus has its own share of moons. The ring is a completely different form of ring than the one around saturn or jupiter. After saturn, a spacecraft would have to travel 1,500,000,000 kilometres to reach uranus. Jan 18, 2017 find out fascinating facts about uranus, including the curious origin of the planets name.
Uranus was the husband of gaia, the goddess of the earth. Interesting facts about the planets universe today. By now, hopefully the childish giggling has died down enough for you to pay close attention. The atmosphere of uranus is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium and 2% methane. But beneath its upper atmosphere is a dense ocean of water and ammonia over a small rocky core. Titan is really cool because it is like the baby version of earth. Titania named after the queen of the fairies in shakespeares a midsummer nights dream. Uranus has a total of 27 moons, most of whom are named after characters in shakespeares midsummer nights dream. The names of these satellites were taken from the works of shakespeare and alexander pope.
With eight planets and a wealth of smaller worlds to look at, theres more. Astronomers think these are likely asteroids that closely crossed paths with uranus and became locked in orbit by the planets gravitational pull. They range from titania, 981 miles 1,579 kilometers in diameter, to tiny cupid, only 11 miles 18 km. Facts about the planet uranus for the greek god, see below uranus is a gas planet. Although uranus is visible to the naked eye, it was long mistaken as a. Science, physics and astronomy news space facts about planet venus imagine a blimp city floating 30 miles above the scorching surface of venus. Umbriel is not from shakespeare but is the melancholy sprite in a poem by alexander pope.
Centuries later, the moons of uranus pay homage to the famous playwright. Voyager 2 discovered 10 more moons in 1986, bringing the total to 15. If the earth had baby pictures, they would look much like titan. Uranus has a tilted axis and its thought that a collision with another large celestial object was the cause of it. The largest moons include miranda, ariel, umbriel, oberon, and titania. Ariel the fourthlargest moon, ariel also has the thirdgreatest mass. Since then the only space probe that has been sent to uranus was the voyager 2 in 1986. The path of the sun in the local sky over the course of a local day during uranus s and its major moons summer solstice is quite different from that seen on most other solar system worlds. The surface area of the moon is 14,658,000 square miles or 9. The planet uranus has 27 known moons, most of which werent discovered until the space age. Uranuss five largest moons range from about 240 to 800 km 150 to 500 miles in radius. Since uranus rules sudden changes, her reputation in the tabloids seemed to fluctuate to either side. They are all named after characters created by william shakespeare and alexander pope. The planet was not known to ancient civilizations beca.
The mission has brought lots of information about the planet, including the very first closeup photos of the planet, its orbiting moons, and its ring system. Miranda the innermost and smallest of uranus s five major moons has a diameter of just 472km 290 miles. It was discovered in december, 1781 by william herschel, a germanborn british astronomer. Although uranus is visible to the naked eye, it was long mistaken as a star because of the planets dimness. Voyager 2 brought us some detailed pictures of uranus and its moons and rings. I was especially interested in the number of moons of uranus and so enlightening to learn of its gaseous atmosphere containing methane. Sweet moon, william shakespeare wrote in a midsummer nights dream, i thank thee for thy sunny beams. The color of uranus is blue due to the fact that it has an atmosphere made up of water, ammonia, and methane. Did learn a little more about some of uranus moons.
The five major moons are called titania, oberon, miranda, ariel and umbriel. Until now, 27 moons have been discovered orbiting uranus. The rings are probably quite young, and are not believed to have formed with uranus. Oct 07, 2008 the gas and ice giant known as uranus is a fascinating place. The moons of uranus exploring the planets national air. When you get right down to it, uranus is chock full of interesting and surprising. Uranus was officially discovered by sir william herschel in 1781. Uranus is the seventh planet discovered in the solar system that also led to the. It is the third largest planet by diameter, yet fourth most massive. The most elusive of uranus interesting facts is just why the temperature of the planet is so low. Uranus most unique feature is that its axis sideways in comparison to other planets. Its always a blue disk so i cant fault simon on that.
I love to learn more about this fascinating body so please feel free to educate us further about uranus in the future. The path of the sun in the local sky over the course of a local day during uranuss and its major moons summer solstice is quite different from that seen on most other solar system worlds. The gas and ice giant known as uranus is a fascinating place. Only 59% of the moons surface is visible from earth. At uranus there is a very obvious partial ring, or ring arc. Dec 23, 2015 interesting facts about the planets while the universe is a big place to study, we shouldnt forget our own backyard. The planet uranus is one of the gas giants and in our solar system, its huge. The two largest of uranus moons are titania and oberon.
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