Uranus is the seventh farthest planet from the sun and the third largest planet in the solar system in terms of diameter. Uranus is bigger than Neptune, but its mass is smaller.
Orbit of revolution: 2,87,99, kilometers (19.218 astronomical units) from the sun
Planet diameter: 51,118 kilometers (equator)
Mass: 8.683e25 kilograms
When reading the English name of Uranus, be careful when pronouncing it, otherwise people may be in an embarrassing situation. Uranus should be pronounced "YOOR a nus", not "your anus" (your anus) or "urine us" (urinating on us).
Uranus is the god of the universe in ancient Greek mythology, and the earliest supreme god. He is the son and spouse of Caia and the father of Cronus (Saturn), Cyclops and Titan (the predecessor of Olympus).
Uranus was systematically searched by William Herschel through a telescope and discovered on March 13th, 1781. It is the first planet discovered in modern times. In fact, it has been observed many times, but it was mistaken for another star at that time (it was observed by John Flamsteed as early as 169, but it was compiled as 34 Tauri at that time). Herschel named it "the Georgium Sidus" (Planet Georgia) to commemorate his benefactor, the infamous British king: George III; Others call Uranus "Herschel". Because the names of other planets are taken from Greek mythology, in order to keep consistent, Bode first proposed to call it "Uranus" (Uranus), but it was not until 185 that it was widely used.
Only one interplanetary probe has been to Uranus, which was completed by Voyager 2 on January 24th, 1986.
Most planets always revolve around an axis almost perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, but Uranus' axis is almost parallel to the ecliptic plane. During Voyager 2' s exploration, Uranus' South Pole was almost directly exposed to the sun. This strange fact shows that Uranus' polar regions get more energy from the sun than its equatorial regions. However, the equatorial region of Uranus is still hotter than the polar regions. The reason for this is still unknown.
moreover, it either rotates in the forward direction with a rotation axis angle greater than 9 degrees or rotates in the reverse direction with an inclination angle less than 9 degrees. The problem is that you have to draw a dividing line somewhere, because, for example, there is some controversy about whether Venus really rotates in the opposite direction (not in the forward direction with an inclination close to 18 degrees).
Uranus is basically composed of rocks and all kinds of ice, and it only contains 15% hydrogen and some helium (less than Jupiter and Saturn, which are mostly composed of hydrogen). Uranus and Neptune are very similar to Jupiter and Saturn in many ways after removing the huge liquid metal hydrogen shell. Although the core of Uranus is not made of rocks like Jupiter and Saturn, their material distribution is almost the same.
Uranus' atmosphere contains about 83% hydrogen, 15% helium and 2% methane.
like all other gaseous planets, Uranus has banded clouds floating around it. But they are so weak that they can only be seen from the processed pictures of Voyager 2 (right). The recent observation by Hubble telescope (left) shows that the stripes are bigger and more obvious. It is speculated that this difference is mainly due to the effect of seasons (the direct sunlight to a low latitude area of Uranus may cause obvious effects of day and night).
Uranus is blue because methane in its outer atmosphere absorbs red light. There may be ribbons like Jupiter, but they are covered with methane.
like all other gaseous planets, Uranus has rings. They are as dark as Jupiter's rings, but like Saturn's rings, they are composed of quite large particles with a diameter of 1 meters and fine dust. Uranus has 11 known rings, but they are all very dim; The brightest one is called Epsilon halo. Uranus' halo was first discovered after Saturn's discovery. This discovery is considered to be very important, from which we know that the halo is a universal feature of the planet, not just unique to Saturn.
Voyager 2 discovered 1 small satellites after 5 known large satellites. It seems that there are some smaller satellites in the halo.
When it comes to Uranus' axis of rotation, it is also worth mentioning that its magnetic field is also very strange. It is not in the center of the planet, but tilted by nearly 6 degrees. This may be caused by the deep movement inside Uranus.
Sometimes, in a clear night sky, you can just see the vague Uranus with the naked eye, but if you know its position, it is very easy to observe it through binoculars. A small disk can be seen through a small astronomical telescope. Mike Harvey's planet-finding chart shows the position of Uranus and other planets in the sky. More and more details and better charts will be discovered and completed by astronomical programs such as Brilliant Milky Way.
Uranus' satellites
Uranus has 15 named satellites and 2 discovered but unnamed satellites.
Unlike other celestial bodies in the solar system, the moons of Uranus are not named after the characters in ancient myths, but after the characters in the works of Shakespeare and the Pope.
They are naturally divided into two groups: 1 small dark satellites near Uranus discovered by Voyager 2 and 5 large satellites in the outer layer. (right)
They all have a circular orbit around the equator of Uranus (so they have a large angle relative to the equatorial plane).
Satellite distance
(km) Radius
(km) Mass
(kg) Discovery date
Tianwei VI 5 13? Voyager 2 1986
Venus 7 54 16? Voyager 2 1986
Satellite 8 59 22? Voyager 2 1986
Tianwei 9 62 33? Voyager 2 1986
Tianwei 1 63 29? Voyager 2 1986
Tianwei 11 64 42? Voyager 2 1986
Tianwei 12 66 55? Voyager 2 1986
Tianwei 13 7 27? Voyager 2 1986
Tiangong 14 75 34? Voyager 2, 1986
Celestial Satellite 18, 75 2? Karkoschka 1999
Tianwei XV 86 77? Voyager 2 1985
Tianwei 5 13 236 6.3e19 Kuiper 1948
Tianwei 1 191 579 1.27e21 Lassell 1851
Tianwei 2 266 585 1.27e21 Lassell 1851
Tianwei 3 436 789 3.49e. 21 Herschel 1787
Tianwei IV 583 761 3.3e21 Herschel 1787
Tianwei XVI 72 3? Gladman 1997
Tianwei XVII
122 6? Gladman
1997
Aura of Uranus
Aura distance
(km) width
(km)
1986U2R 38 2, 5
6 4184 1-3
5 4223 2-3
4 4258 2-3
Alpha 4472 7-12
Beta 4567 7-12
Eta 4719 -2
Gamma 4763 1-4
Delta 4829 3-9
1986U 1R52 1-2
epsilon 5114 2-1
(distance refers to the length from the center of Uranus to the inner edge of the halo)
Unknown point
Why doesn't Uranus radiate more energy than other gaseous planets do from the sun? Is it cold inside?
why is its axis so unusually tilted? Is it caused by a violent collision?
why is there less hydrogen and helium on Uranus and Neptune than on Jupiter and Saturn? Is it just because they are smaller? Or is it because it is far from the sun?
-----------. In the west, Uranus is called "Uranus", and he was the first god to rule the whole universe. He combined with Gaia, the mother of the earth, and gave birth to the later gods. It was he who tried his best to plan the chaotic universe in harmony and order. In Chinese, people translate this star name as "Uranus".
Uranus is a blue-green sphere, and its surface has pale blue-green luster and stripes that are not parallel to the equator, which is probably due to the atmospheric flow caused by the rapid rotation speed. Uranus has an equatorial radius of about 25,9 kilometers and its volume is 65 times that of the Earth. The mass is about 14.63 times that of the earth. Uranus has a small density, with an average density of 1.24 grams per cubic centimeter. Uranus' atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen, helium and methane.
Uranus' orbit is an ellipse with a radius of 2.9 billion kilometers. It orbits the sun at an average speed of 6.81 kilometers per second. It takes 84 years for a revolution, but its rotation period is much shorter, only 15.5 hours. In the solar system, all the planets basically follow the motion that their axes of rotation are nearly perpendicular to the orbital plane of revolution, except Uranus, whose axes of rotation are almost parallel to the orbital plane of revolution, and the intersection angle between the equatorial plane and the orbital plane reaches 97 degrees and 55 minutes, that is to say, it almost "lies" and moves around the sun. So some people call Uranus "an upside-down planetary world".
The alternation of day and night and the change of seasons on Uranus are also very strange and complicated. The sun shines on the North Pole, the Equator, the South Pole and the Equator in turn. Therefore, every day and night in most parts of Uranus will last for 42 years before it can be changed once. Which pole the sun shines on is summer, and the sun never sets, and there is no night; And the pole facing away from the sun is in the cold winter covered by a long night. Only between 8 degrees north and south latitude near the equator of Uranus, there is a diurnal change caused by the rotation period.
Uranus, like Saturn, has a beautiful light ring, and it is also a complex ring system. Its aura consists of 2 thin rings, each with different colors, colorful and beautiful. This discovery in the 197s broke the traditional understanding that Saturn is the only planet with rings in the solar system. Uranus has 15 satellites, almost all of which are on the equatorial plane close to Uranus and revolve around Uranus.