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)

quot;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

--mstheme-->
84 Earth years

Apparent Size

3-4 arcsecs    
The Uranian Moons