About Space
URANUS
Uranus—seventh planet from the Sun—rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its side.
An infrared composite image of the two hemispheres of Uranus obtained with Keck Telescope adaptive optics.
This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 on January 14th 1986 from a distance of approximately 7.8 milllion miles ( 12.7 million km )
This view of Uranus was recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan 25, 1986, as the spacecraft left the planet behind and set forth on the cruise to Neptune Voyager was 1 million kilometers (about 600,000 miles) from Uranus when it acquired this wide-angle view.
An infrared composite image of the two hemispheres of Uranus obtained with Keck Telescope adaptive optics.
THE THINGS NEED-TO-KNOW ABOUT URANUS
1
HUGE
Uranus is about four times wider than Earth. If Earth were a large apple, Uranus would be the size of a basketball.
2
SEVENTH WANDERER
Uranus orbits our Sun, a star, and is the seventh planet from the Sun at a distance of about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers).
3
ICE GIANT
Uranus is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a hot, dense fluid of "icy" materials – water, methane and ammonia – above a small rocky core.
4
GASSY
Uranus has an atmosphere made mostly of molecular hydrogen and atomic helium, with a small amount of methane.
5
A BIT LONELY
Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to fly by Uranus. No spacecraft has orbited this distant planet to study it at length and up close.
6
THE OTHER RINGED WORLD
Uranus has 13 known rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark and the outer rings are brightly colored.
