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The pronunciation of the name Uranus preferred among astronomers is / ˈ jʊər ə n ə s / YOOR-ə-nəs, [1] with the long "u" of English and stress on the first syllable as in Latin Uranus, in contrast to / j ʊ ˈ r eɪ n ə s / yoo-RAY-nəs, with stress on the second syllable and a long a, though both are considered acceptable. [g]
Uranus is the third-largest and fourth most massive planet in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about 2.8 billion kilometers (1.7 billion miles) and completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by Voyager 2 is 17 hours and 14 minutes. Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on ...
Uranus' ring system was the second to be discovered in the Solar System, after that of Saturn. [9] In 1982, on the fifth anniversary of the rings' discovery, Uranus along with the eight other planets recognized at the time (i.e. including Pluto) aligned on the same side of the Sun. [10] [11]
Temperature profile of the Uranian troposphere and lower stratosphere. Cloud and haze layers are also indicated. The Uranian atmosphere can be divided into three main layers: the troposphere, between altitudes of −300 [a] and 50 km and pressures from 100 to 0.1 bar; the stratosphere, spanning altitudes between 50 and 4000 km and pressures between 0.1 and 10 −10 bar; and the thermosphere ...
The ice giants Uranus and Neptune live up to their name. Although humans have only ever sent one spacecraft (Voyager 2) toward these far-flung worlds, scientists have a pretty good idea that these ...
Miranda, also designated Uranus V, is the smallest and innermost of Uranus's five round satellites. It was discovered by Gerard Kuiper on 16 February 1948 at McDonald Observatory in Texas, and named after Miranda from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. [9] Like the other large moons of Uranus, Miranda orbits close to its planet's ...
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.
The total power radiated by Uranus in the far infrared (i.e. heat) part of the spectrum is 1.06 ± 0.08 times the solar energy absorbed in its atmosphere. [22] [23] In fact, Uranus's heat flux is only 0.042 ± 0.047 W/m 2, which is lower than the internal heat flux of Earth of about 0.075 W/m 2. [22]