Uranus

  • Name is derived from the ancient Greek God of the Heavens.
  • This planet has an unusual blue-green colour. This colour comes from methane which is present in abundance in hydrogen–helium atmosphere of the planet.
  • Rings of Uranus are narrow and are only a few km wide. Some astronomers opine that these rings are young are possibly relatively recent. The planet has 13 rings.
  • Uranus has 27 moons.
  • The planet has an equatorial circumference of 159,354 km (99039 miles) and an orbit distance of 2,870,658,186 km (1.784 billion miles), which is 19.22 Astronomical Units.
  • This planet is the coldest planet in solar system with an atmospheric temperature of -224 degrees centigrade and surface temperature of -197 degrees centigrade. Methane haze covers the upper atmosphere of the planet.
  • It is the only planet that spins on its side (like a barrel)! Scientists think that this is due to a collision millions of years ago.
  • Discovered in 1781 by English astronomer William Herschel. He named it Georgium Sidus in honour of King George III, the planet was renamed in the mid 19th century.