Uranus is slightly larger in diameter than its neighbor Neptune, yet smaller in mass. It is the second least dense planet; Saturn is the least dense of all. Uranus gets its blue-green color from methane gas in the atmosphere. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and is reflected back out by Uranus' cloud tops.
Methane gas absorbs the red portion of the light, resulting in a blue-green color. The planet is mostly swirling fluids. The extreme pressures and temperatures would destroy a metal spacecraft.
Uranus' atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane and traces of water and ammonia. The methane gives Uranus its signature blue color. While Voyager 2 saw only a few discrete clouds, a Great Dark Spot, and a small dark spot during its flyby in — more recent observations reveal that Uranus exhibits dynamic clouds as it approaches equinox, including rapidly changing bright features.
Uranus' planetary atmosphere, with a minimum temperature of 49K Wind speeds can reach up to miles per hour kilometers per hour on Uranus. But closer to the poles, winds shift to a prograde direction, flowing with Uranus' rotation. Uranus has an unusual, irregularly shaped magnetosphere. Magnetic fields are typically in alignment with a planet's rotation, but Uranus' magnetic field is tipped over: the magnetic axis is tilted nearly 60 degrees from the planet's axis of rotation, and is also offset from the center of the planet by one-third of the planet's radius.
Auroras on Uranus are not in line with the poles like they are on Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn due to the lopsided magnetic field. The magnetosphere tail behind Uranus opposite the Sun extends into space for millions of miles. Introduction The seventh planet from the Sun with the third largest diameter in our solar system, Uranus is very cold and windy. Potential for Life Potential for Life Uranus' environment is not conducive to life as we know it.
Size and Distance Size and Distance With a radius of 15, Orbit and Rotation Orbit and Rotation One day on Uranus takes about 17 hours the time it takes for Uranus to rotate or spin once. Moons Moons Uranus has 27 known moons. Rings Rings Uranus has two sets of rings. Formation Formation Uranus took shape when the rest of the solar system formed about 4.
Structure Structure Uranus is one of two ice giants in the outer solar system the other is Neptune. A 3D model of Uranus. The dense troposphere, which contains the planet's clouds, is frigid at minus degrees Fahrenheit minus degrees Celsius to minus F minus C , making it the coldest atmosphere in the solar system.
Warmed by the sun and radiation from space, the troposphere has slightly higher temperatures of minus F minus C to minus F minus C. The outer layer can get was hot as 1, F C. Unlike most planets in the solar system, which have their equators pointed in the direction of the sun, Uranus is tipped on its side.
The planet faces one pole at a time toward the sun, gradually spinning over the course of its orbit until the other pole receives light instead of darkness. The strange orientation of the planet was likely caused by a collision soon after its formation. The off-kilter tilt should mean that temperatures at one pole would be higher than at the equator, and significantly higher than at the dark pole. The higher temperatures should drive the planet's weather, as the rising warm air travels to the other pole and falls.
But weather on Uranus functions much as it does on other gas giants. Like Jupiter and Saturn, the planet has bands of zones and belts that orbit parallel to the equator, which is warmer than the poles. The warm temperatures that drive the planet's weather come from the interior of the planet, rather than from the sun.
The significant distance to Uranus from the sun may play a role in why the planet's interior heat overpowers the faint light from the star. Gravity would pull you in, but at some point the thick clouds would act like an ocean and give you some buoyancy meaning that you would float.
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