Uranus: The Strangest Planet Of Our Solar System | Information And Facts

Uranus:

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the coldest planet of our solar system. Uranus is the third-largest planet of our solar system(by diameter).

Uranus's Profile: 

Distance from Sun: 2.871 billion km
Radius: 25,362 km
Mass: 8.681 × 10^25 kg

Physical Characteristics:

Uranus is blue-green in colour, as a result of the methane in its mostly hydrogen-helium atmosphere. The planet is often dubbed an ice giant since at least 80% of its mass is a fluid mix of water, methane and ammonia ice.

With a radius of 15,759.2 miles (25,362 kilometres), Uranus is 4 times wider than Earth. If Earth was the size of a nickel, Uranus would be about as big as a softball. From an average distance of 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometres), Uranus is 19.8 astronomical units away from the Sun.
Uranus is composed primarily of rock and various ices, with only about 15% hydrogen and a little helium (in contrast to Jupiter and Saturn which are mostly hydrogen). Uranus (and Neptune) are in many ways similar to the cores of Jupiter and Saturn minus the massive liquid metallic hydrogen envelope. It appears that Uranus does not have a rocky core like Jupiter and Saturn but rather that its material is more or less uniformly distributed.
Uranus' atmospheric composition by volume is 82.5% hydrogen, 15.2% helium and 2.3% methane.
Uranus has the coldest atmosphere of any of the planets in the solar system, even though it is not the most distant from the sun. That's because Uranus has little to no internal heat to supplement the heat from the sun.
Unlike the other planets of the solar system, Uranus is tilted so far that it essentially orbits the sun on its side, with the axis of its spin nearly pointing at the star. This unusual orientation might be due to a collision with a planet-size body, or several small bodies, soon after it was formed. A 2018 study suggested the colliding world could have been twice the size of Earth. This unusual tilt gives rise to extreme seasons that last for about 20 years. This means that for nearly a quarter of the Uranian year, which is equal to 84 Earth-years, the sun shines directly over each pole, leaving the other half of the planet to experience a long, dark and frigid winter.
The magnetic poles of most planets are typically more or less lined up with the axis along which it rotates, but Uranus' magnetic field is tilted, with its magnetic axis tipped nearly 60 degrees away from the planet's axis of rotation. This leads to a strangely lopsided magnetic field for Uranus, with the strength of the field at the northern hemisphere's surface being up to more than 10 times that of the strength at the southern hemisphere's surface. A 2017 study suggested the lopsided nature of Uranus' magnetic field may also lead it to flicker on and off during every rotation (about every 17.24 hours).
The Uranian rings are composed of extremely dark particles, which vary in size from micrometres to a fraction of a metre. Thirteen distinct rings are presently known, the brightest being the ε ring. All except two rings of Uranus are extremely narrow – they are usually a few kilometres wide. The rings are probably quite young; the dynamics considerations indicate that they did not form with Uranus. The matter in the rings may once have been part of a moon (or moons) that was shattered by high-speed impacts. From numerous pieces of debris that formed as a result of those impacts, only a few particles survived, in stable zones corresponding to the locations of the present rings.
Uranus has 27 known moons. While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from Greek or Roman mythology, Uranus' moons are unique in being named for characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
All of Uranus' inner moons appear to be roughly half water ice and half rock. The composition of the outer moons remains unknown, but they have likely captured asteroids.

Structure of Uranus:

Uranus' mass is roughly 14.5 times that of Earth, making it the least massive of the giant planets. Its diameter is slightly larger than Neptune's at roughly four times that of Earth. A resulting density of 1.27 g/cm3 makes Uranus the second least dense planet, after Saturn. This value indicates that it is made primarily of various ices, such as water, ammonia, and methane.
The standard model of Uranus' structure is that it consists of three layers: a rocky (silicate/iron–nickel) core in the centre, an icy mantle in the middle and an outer gaseous hydrogen/helium envelope. The core is relatively small, with a mass of only 0.55 Earth masses and a radius less than 20% of Uranus'; the mantle comprises its bulk, with around 13.4 Earth masses, and the upper atmosphere is relatively insubstantial, weighing about 0.5 Earth masses and extending for the last 20% of Uranus' radius. Uranus' core density is around 9 g/cm3, with a pressure in the centre of 8 million bars (800 GPa) and a temperature of about 5000 K. The ice mantle is not in fact composed of ice in the conventional sense, but of a hot and dense fluid consisting of water, ammonia and other volatiles. This fluid, which has high electrical conductivity, is sometimes called a water–ammonia ocean.
The extreme pressure and temperature deep within Uranus may break up the methane molecules, with the carbon atoms condensing into crystals of diamond that rain down through the mantle like hailstones. Very-high-pressure experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory suggest that the base of the mantle may comprise an ocean of liquid diamond, with floating solid 'diamond-bergs'. Scientists also believe that rainfalls of solid diamonds occur on Uranus, as well as on Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune.

Some facts About Uranus:

• Uranus was officially discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
• Uranus makes one trip around the Sun every 84 Earth years.
• Uranus is often referred to as an “ice giant” planet.
• methane ice crystals that give the planet its pale blue colour.
• Uranus hits the coldest temperatures of any planet.
• Uranus has two sets of very thin dark coloured rings.
• Uranus’ moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
• Only one spacecraft has flown by Uranus.

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