The Pages of The Gray Wizard

Uranus

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Uranus

 

This distant, blue-green planet is something of a mystery.  Even after Voyager-2's flyby, there remains a great deal that is unknown about Uranus.

 
The correct pronunciation of this planet is  "Your-uh-nus" not "Your-anus."  Uranus is a giant planet, about 4 times the diameter of Earth. Through a telescope it looks like a tiny greenish or bluish disk. This is because it has methane in its atmosphere that absorbs other colors. It has 5 large moons named, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Miranda, and Oberon. All of the moons appear to be made up of rock and ice. Uranus also has a set of nine thin rings around it as observed by Voyager 2.
 
uranus.jpg (17065 bytes)

"Image courtesy Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Copyright (c) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. All rights reserved."

[click on thumbnail for larger image]

Uranus Facts

Distance from Earth

19.2 Au

Apparent Magnitude

5.5 to 5.9

Mass

14.5 x Earth's mass
8.68 x 1025 kg

Uranus Day

17.9 hrs

Radius

4 x Earth's radius
51,118 km diameter

Uranus Year

84 Earth years

Apparent Size

3-4 arcsecs    
The Uranian Moons