Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, notable for its unique sideways rotation and striking blue-green color, a result of methane in its atmosphere absorbing red light. Discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, Uranus was the first planet found with a telescope, expanding the known boundaries of our solar system. It has a radius about four times that of Earth and is classified as an ice giant due to its cold, gaseous composition, which includes water, ammonia, and methane ices. Uranus has a complex, layered atmosphere and a magnetic field that is both large and tilted. The planet is encircled by a system of thin, dark rings and has 27 known moons, with names inspired by characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Its orbital period is approximately 84 Earth years, with each pole experiencing 42 years of sunlight followed by 42 years of darkness.
Recent research led by Professor Patrick Irwin shows that Neptune and Uranus are both a similar shade of greenish-blue, challenging previous perceptions of their colors….
On December 18, 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope captured remarkable images of Uranus, revealing the planet’s intricate ring system and seasonal north polar cap,…
New View Reveals a Strange and Dynamic Ice World When Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, the planet appeared to be a nearly featureless,…
University of Leicester astronomers confirm the existence of an infrared (IR) aurora on Uranus. The presence of an infrared aurora on the cold, outer planet…
Scientists used ground-based telescopes to get unprecedented views, thanks to the giant planet’s position in its long orbit around the Sun. For the first time,…
The work is based on new modeling and explores how oceans could exist in unlikely places in our solar system. New computer modeling and re-analysis…
Webb’s Infrared Image Highlights the Planet’s Dramatic Rings and Dynamic Atmosphere The planet Uranus is an oddball in our solar system, tilted on its side…
A key aspect of the study was the deployment of density functional theory (DFT), a method derived from quantum mechanics and used in solid-state physics…
Forecast for Blustery Winds, Smoggy Hazes The outer planets beyond Mars do not have solid surfaces to affect weather as on Earth. And, sunlight is…
New method enables materials synthesis research and study in the terapascal range for the first time. Jules Verne could not have dreamed of this: A…
Planets are surrounded by rings because they are made up of particles that orbit the planet. These particles can be made up of a variety…
SLAC scientists found that oxygen boosts this exotic precipitation, revealing a new path to make nanodiamonds here on Earth. According to new research, “diamond rain,”…
Observations from Gemini Observatory and other telescopes reveal that excess haze on Uranus makes it paler than Neptune. Astronomers may now understand why the similar…
Probing the structures and properties of superionic ice. A layer of “hot,” electrically conductive ice could be responsible for generating the magnetic fields of ice…
Mushballs – giant, slushy hailstones made from a mixture of ammonia and water – may be responsible for an atmospheric anomaly at Neptune and Uranus…
While scientists have amassed considerable knowledge of the rocky planets in our solar system, like Earth and Mars, much less is known about the icy…
Uranus and Neptune both have a completely skewed magnetic field, perhaps due to the planets’ special inner structures. But new experiments by ETH Zurich researchers…
Astronomers have announced the first detection of X-rays from Uranus. Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, is an ice giant planet in the outer…