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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan -coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or volatiles. The planet's atmosphere has a complex layered cloud structure and has the lowest minimum temperature (49 K (−224 °C; − ...
How did Uranus get its name? English astronomer William Herschel discovered the ice giant in 1781 and tried unsuccessfully to name it after King George III, according to NASA.
In Greek mythology, Uranus (/ ˈjʊərənəs / YOOR-ə-nəs, also / jʊˈreɪnəs / yoo-RAY-nəs), [3] sometimes written Ouranos (Ancient Greek: Οὐρανός, lit. ' sky ', [uːranós]), is the personification of the sky and one of the Greek primordial deities. According to Hesiod, Uranus was the son and husband of Gaia (Earth), with whom he ...
The scheme of Uranus 's ring-moon system. Solid lines denote rings; dashed lines denote orbits of moons. As currently understood, the ring system of Uranus comprises thirteen distinct rings. In order of increasing distance from the planet they are: 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν, μ rings. [13]
Uranus is the butt of a lot of jokes, but scientists pronounce the name of our seventh planet differently than, say, most giggling middle-schoolers.
The major moons of Uranus are thought to have formed in the accretion disc, which existed around Uranus for some time after its formation or resulted from a large impact suffered by Uranus early in its history. [31] [32] This view is supported by their large thermal inertia, a surface property they share with dwarf planets like Pluto and Haumea ...
The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA 's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. Voyager 2 discovered 10 moons, studied the planet's cold atmosphere, and examined its ring system, discovering two new rings. It also imaged Uranus' five large moons ...
The name comes from the Greek god Ouranos, called Uranus by the Romans, giving uranium its name. Orano's circular yellow logo is designed for the yellowcake uranium concentrate it produces.