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Unique Uranus
Ariel Toombs
Kimberly Taylor
General Information

Uranus is the seventh planet
from the Sun.

It is the third largest by
diameter.

One of the Giant Planets or
Gas Planets

The name “Uranus” comes
from the ancient Greek god of
the Heavens, the earliest
supreme god.
Uranus Video
Size, Shape, & Orbit

Orbit: 2,870,990,000 km away from the
Sun

Diameter: 51,118 km

Mass: 8.683 kg

Uranus has a larger diameter than Neptune,
but a smaller mass.
Uranus vs. Earth

Uranus is about 4
times the size of
Earth.

The rotation of
Uranus is about 18
Earth hours.

It is about 14 times
the mass of Earth.

One Uranus year is
about 84 Earth years.

Each season on
Uranus lasts about 42
years.
Uranian Moons



According to some sites,
Uranus has 21 named
moons, 6 unnamed ones.
The names of the Uranian
moons come from the
writings of Shakespeare
and the Pope.
The moons form three
distinct classes: the 11
small very dark, inner ones,
the 5 large ones, and the
newly discovered much
more distant ones.
Uranian Moons
MOON NAME:
DISCOVERER &
DATE:
DISTANCE FROM
URANUS:
Cordelia
Voyager 2 – 1986
50 km
Ophelia
Voyager 2 – 1986
54 km
Bianca
Voyager 2 – 1986
59 km
Cressida
Voyager 2 – 1986
62 km
Desdemona
Voyager 2 – 1986
63 km
Juliet
Voyager 2 – 1986
64 km
Portia
Voyager 2 – 1986
66 km
Rosalind
Voyager 2 – 1986
70 km
Belinda
Voyager 2 – 1986
75 km
Puck
Voyager 2 – 1986
86 km
Miranda
Kuiper – 1948
130 km
Ariel
Lassell – 1851
191 km
Uranian Moons
MOON NAME:
DISCOVERER &
DATE:
DISTANCE FROM
URANUS:
Umbriel
Lassell – 1851
266 km
Titania
Herschel – 1787
436 km
Oberon
Herschel – 1787
583 km
Caliban
Gladman – 1997
7169 km
Stephano
Gladman – 1999
7948 km
Trinculo
Unknown
8578 km
Sycorax
Nicholson – 1997
12213 km
Prospero
Holman – 1999
16568 km
Setebos
Kavelaars - 1999
17681 km
Discovery of Uranus
Uranus was the first planet to be
discovered using a telescope.
 Sir William Herschel discovered the planet
in 1781.


However, people had observed and plotted
Uranus on star charts dating back to 1690,
believing it was a star.
Inside Uranus
Uranus has an inner rocky core.
 The core of Uranus is probably smaller
than the Earth’s core.
 Uranus’s core may be small because most
of the rock on the planet is floating in its
ocean.
 Unlike the other giant planets, Uranus
radiates little heat into space from its deep
interior.

Surface on Uranus


An ocean covers most of the planet.
The ocean that is on Uranus accounts for most
of the planet’s volume.


The ocean most likely consists of water molecules,
mixed with other elements.
This ocean is EXTREMELY HOT, about 6650ºC
(12,000ºF).

The ocean on Uranus remains liquid at such a high
temperature, because the pressure deep in Uranus is about
five million times stronger than the atmospheric pressure on
Earth at sea level. Higher pressure holds molecules in liquids
close together and prevents them from spreading out to form
vapor.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Uranus contains
hydrogen, helium, and small amounts of
methane.
 Methane absorbs red and orange light
which gives Uranus its blue-green color.

Uranian Rings

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
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Astronomers have identified ten rings of debris
encircling Uranus’s equator.
Many of these rings are made of ice and rock
boulders about the size of large beach balls.
Several observatories first detected five of the
ten rings in 1977.
Starting from the innermost ring, these five rings
were called Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and
Epsilon.
Uranian Rings

In 1986 images taken by the Voyager 2
spacecraft helped scientists discover five
more rings encircling Uranus.
Which planet is most like Uranus?

NEPTUNE
Blue in color
 Slightly smaller in diameter than Uranus
 Bigger in mass than Uranus
 Inner core is made of basically the same
materials as Uranus

Unique Facts about Uranus

Uranus rotates on its side


Has an ocean


Its south pole is facing the Sun.
Ocean is extremely hot, but does not
evaporate due to pressure
If you could see the moons rotating
Uranus, they would be rotating around
Uranus like a ferris wheel.
Unique Facts about Uranus

Almost all the of the moons are named
after in plays written by Shakespeare. The
names not named after Shakespeare
comes from a book by Alexander Pope,
called “The Rape of the Lock.”
Shockwave
http://www.lucellan.com/test/s3.swf
Works Cited



Arnett, Bill. “Uranus.” November 20, 2004.
Uranus March 17, 2008.
http://www.nineplanets.org/uranus.html
Whitt, Kelly. “Uranus Facts.” January 15, 2007.
suite101.com March 17, 2008.
http://astronomyspace.suite101.com/article.cfm/
uranus_facts
“Hubble finds new moons, rings around Uranus.”
December 23, 2005. Science&Space. March
17, 2008.
<http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/12/22/u
ranus.hubble/index.html>