Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The extremely dark ring system reflects only about 2% of the incoming light. Uranus's 28 natural satellites include 18 known regular moons, of which 13 are small inner moons. Further out are the larger five major moons of the planet: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon.
Uranus is an unusual world that spins on its side with a 98-degree tilt, which means the icy planet experiences seasons in an extreme way. One year on Uranus lasts around 84 Earth years, and for ...
The first mention of a Uranian ring system comes from William Herschel's notes detailing his observations of Uranus in the 18th century, which include the following passage: "February 22, 1789: A ring was suspected". [1] Herschel drew a small diagram of the ring and noted that it was "a little inclined to the red".
The two innermost moons, Cordelia and Ophelia, are shepherds of Uranus's ε ring, whereas the small moon Mab is a source of Uranus's outermost μ ring. [12] There may be two additional small (2–7 km in radius) undiscovered shepherd moons located about 100 km exterior to Uranus's α and β rings. [24]
What’s known about Uranus could be off the mark. An unusual cosmic occurrence during the Voyager 2 spacecraft’s 1986 flyby might have skewed how scientists characterized the ice giant, new ...
Scientists may have explained a mystery that has puzzled us about Uranus for decades. Researchers believe that data that appeared not to make sense was collected by a powerful solar storm. In 1986 ...
For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" to distinguish them from the gas giants. Uranus's atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it contains more "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of other hydrocarbons.
Uranus, blue-green in color due to the methane contained in an atmosphere comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium, has a diameter of about 31,500 miles (50,700 km). It is big enough to fit 63 ...