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| Planet Uranus |
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| One of the signs of Uranus |
Uranus Facts
Basics:
- Uranus has two signs
- 7th planet from the Sun
- One of the four Gas Giants
- Discovered in 1781 - William Herschel
- Named after the Greek God of the Heavens (1850)
- Tilted planet - 98 degree axis tilt (rolls on its side)
- Blue-green in color - due to methane in atmosphere
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| Revolution of Uranus around Sun |
Numbers:
- Rotation = -17.24 Earth hours
- Retrograde = rotates clockwise (backwards from most things in Universe!)
- Revolution = 85 Earth years
- Rolls like a barrel around the Sun due to axis tilt
- Orbit = 2,870,990,000 km (~19 AU)
- Diameter = 51,118 km - 3rd largest planet
- Mass = 8.683e25 kg
- e = exponent (times 10 to the 25th power)
- Density = 1,270 kg per meters cubed
- Less gravity than Earth!
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| 2nd Sign of Uranus |
- Composed of rock & various ices (Hydrogen, Helium & Methane)
- Does not have a rocky core - WEIRD!
- Interior is Methane Ice
- Atmosphere = 83% H; 15% He, 2% = Methane
- Methane reflects blue-green color!
- Goes through seasons
- Winds "stripe" the planet
- Methane "smog" on pole not facing Sun
- Has HUGE wind storms when poles switch!
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| Rings & Moons of Uranus |
Rings:
- Has 13 rings made of dark, rocky material
- Pieces can be up to 10 km in diameter
- 1st rings discovered after Saturn
- very faint - called a ring "arc"
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| Some of Uranus' Moons |
- 27 Moons
- Named after Shakespeare and Alexander Pope characters
- "Icy Moons" - no atmosphere & no magnetosphere
- Miranda, Oberon, Puck, Juliet, Titania, etc.
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| Pathway of Voyager 2 |
- Voyager 2 - Fly-by, January 24th, 1986 - the only one!!!!!
- Still going and reporting back to NASA!
- Future - JUNO Spacecraft - visiting Jupiter, Uranus & Neptune
- Launches August 2011
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| Uranus - 7th Planet from Sun |
Interesting Facts:
- One - First named Georgium Sidus for the King of England!
- Two - Moon Miranda has the largest canyon in the solar system - would take 12 minutes for us to fall at a rate of 200 kmph!
- Three - Larger in diameter, but smaller in mass than Neptune!
- Four - Magnetic field not centered on planet!
- Five - 1st planet to be discovered with a telescope & math!
- Six - Poles face Sun, but receive less solar radiation from the Sun than the equator!
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| Uranus without Rings |
Cool Links:
- Moodle
- My Uranus Notes
- Cool Basic Uranus YouTube Link
- Uranus Basics
- Animation of Voyager 2 Fly-By (NASA)
- Uranus - The Magician by Gustav Holst
