Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Uranus: Ice giant opposite the Earth, Learn most important information about the planet


Zubair Yaqoob
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Uranus is the seventh planet in the solar system, initially not recognized as a planet because of its lightness and slow orbit, but was classified as a planet using the telescope to become the first planet discovered after the invention of telescopes and use, and strange things of Uranus that it tilts on its side with a central tilt of 98 Degree, so it is often described as “revolving around the sun on its side”.

Uranus was officially discovered by William Herschel in 1781, when Herschel believed he was guilty at first, but after several years he was able to confirm that it was a planet. The planet was named Uranus by astronomer Johan Bode, who derived it from the name of the ancient Greek god Ouranos.


The planet rotates around its axis every 17 hours and 14 minutes, but in a retrograde direction, the opposite of the way the earth and most other planets orbit, while the sun orbits every 84 Earth years.

Uranus was named the ice giant, like other giant gas giants. It contains a high hydrogen helium-mixed layer. Below it is an ice-like mantle surrounded by a rocky and icy heart. The upper atmosphere consists of water, ammonia and methane ice crystals, The planet is a pale blue color.

Uranus has an atmospheric temperature of -224 degrees Celsius, so it is the coldest planet in the solar system.

The ring particles are small particles of dust or small rocks. Eleven inner rings and two external rings were discovered in 1977, with the discovery of the two outer rings in the Hubble Space Telescope images between 2003 and 2005.

Read also: NASA TESS satellite detects earth-size planet

The names of the satellites of Uranus are inspired by literary figures

The Uranus satellites are named after the personalities created by William Shakespeare and Alexander Bob, Oberon, Titania and Miranda. The satellites are frozen with dark surfaces, some of which contain ice and rock mixtures. The most spectacular of these is the Miranda, due to the presence of icy valleys on its surface, With a strange appearance.

The Voyager 2 spacecraft swept the planet at 8,500 km in 1986 and was able to return the first close-up images of the planet, its moons and rings.

Read also: Learn the story of first planet discovered by telescope

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