Brian's Astronomy Page- The Solar System- Uranus

Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and the first to be discovered in modern times. William Herschel, an English astronomer, discovered Uranus in 1781. The planet has a diameter of 51,800 kilometers and orbits the Sun once every 84.01 Earth years. Uranus is 2.87 billion kilometers from the Sun and a day lasts 17 hours, 14 minutes. Uranus has 15 moons, with more yet to be discovered, with its largest, Titania, being discovered in 1787 by Herschell. The atmosphere of Uranus is mostly hydrogen, with trace amounts of helium, methane, and other hydrocarbons. Uranus is unique that the planet is actuallt tilted on its side. Scientist believe this is a result of a collision with a planet-sized body early in its history. The ring system is made of 11 main rings and smaller ringlets.

Images of Uranus

Image: Uranus
Image: Uranus and its rings
Image: Uranus montage
Image: Another image of Uranus
Image: Image 1 of Oberon
Image: Image 2 of Oberon
Image: Image 1 of Umbriel
Image: Image 2 of Umbriel
Image: Image 1 of Titania
Image: Image 2 of Titania
Image: Image 1 or Ariel
Image: Image 2 of Ariel
Image: Miranda

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