The seventh planet from sun in our solar system. Uranus got a different composition than the larger gas giants of which we have discussed earlier- Jupiter and Saturn. The same composition of Uranus is shared by the other gas giant- Neptune. Because of their very large distance from Sun, Uranus and Neptune contains more ice of ammonia and methane, therefore, sometimes planets are termed as "Ice giants' rather than "Gas giants". Uranus is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky - Uranus, the father of Cronus (Saturn) and grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter).
Do you know?
The intensity of sunlight on Uranus is about 1/400 that on Earth, due to this the faint blue disk of Uranus appears to be exceptionally dull and lifeless.
Are you amazed to see the ring system around Uranus? Are you tilting our head side ways to look at the image shown above?
You really do not need to do that, this is how Uranus looks like if your a standing before it with your head towards the Sun's (or earth's) north. Yes, Uranus has got a very unique feature, it got an unusual axis tilt of 97.77 degrees making it literally look like, as if it is rolling in its orbit. And, coming back to its ring system as mentioned in my previous posts, all the Jovian planets show a common feature- the planetary rings. Though, Saturn alone is famous for its ring system.
Uranus's mass is roughly 14.5 times that of the Earth, making it the least massive of the giant planets. Its diameter is slightly larger than Neptune's at roughly four times Earth's. A resulting density of 1.27 g/cm3 makes Uranus the second least dense planet, after Saturn. Uranus's internal heat appears markedly lower than that of the other giant planets; in astronomical terms, it has a low thermal flux. Why Uranus's internal temperature is so low is still not understood and astronomers are working on this topic. Neptune, which is Uranus's near twin in size and composition, radiates 2.61 times as much energy into space as it receives from the Sun.
The gravity on Uranus is 8.69 m/s2 which almost 91% of the gravity on Earth (earth's gravity=9.81 m/s2 ), this is because it is such a large planet that has got a radius which is around 4 times the radius of earth and since the gravity is inversely proportional to square times the radius, therefore though the mass of Uranus is larger than Earth because of it's radius it got slightly lesser gravitational acceleration than on the surface of Earth.
The image here shows the size of Uranus in comparison to Earth.
Do you know?
Unlike Jupiter or Saturn, does not seem to have a solid core of any kind. The planet does contain some rocky material, but the planet is almost all gas, with the outer layer of methane providing the blue color.
This image is taken from Wikipedia. Here it shows another interesting fact about Uranus, its magnetic field.
The magnetic field is peculiar, both because it does not originate from the planet's geometric center, and because it is tilted at 59° from the axis of rotation. In fact the magnetic dipole is shifted from the center of the planet towards the south rotational pole by as much as one third of the planetary radius.
Do you know?
From 1995 to 2006, Uranus's apparent magnitude fluctuated between +5.6 and +5.9, placing it just within the limit of naked eye visibility at +6.5.
Do you know?
Uranus has got 27 moons orbiting around it.
A day on Uranus only takes 17 hours 14 minutes and 24 seconds.Because of its fast rotation, equatorial bulge can be easily observed. Uranus is 19.19AU or 1.79 billion miles away from Sun & 18.19AU from earth (as earth is exactly 1AU from Sun), hence it takes 84 years to complete one revolution.
Few other characteristics of Uranus:
Escape velocity : 21.3 km/s
Equatorial rotation velocity : 2.59 km/s
Equatorial radius : 25,559 km
Axial tilt : 97.77°
Gravitational acceleration
on surface : 8.69 m/s2
Do you know?
The intensity of sunlight on Uranus is about 1/400 that on Earth, due to this the faint blue disk of Uranus appears to be exceptionally dull and lifeless.
Are you amazed to see the ring system around Uranus? Are you tilting our head side ways to look at the image shown above?
You really do not need to do that, this is how Uranus looks like if your a standing before it with your head towards the Sun's (or earth's) north. Yes, Uranus has got a very unique feature, it got an unusual axis tilt of 97.77 degrees making it literally look like, as if it is rolling in its orbit. And, coming back to its ring system as mentioned in my previous posts, all the Jovian planets show a common feature- the planetary rings. Though, Saturn alone is famous for its ring system.
Uranus's mass is roughly 14.5 times that of the Earth, making it the least massive of the giant planets. Its diameter is slightly larger than Neptune's at roughly four times Earth's. A resulting density of 1.27 g/cm3 makes Uranus the second least dense planet, after Saturn. Uranus's internal heat appears markedly lower than that of the other giant planets; in astronomical terms, it has a low thermal flux. Why Uranus's internal temperature is so low is still not understood and astronomers are working on this topic. Neptune, which is Uranus's near twin in size and composition, radiates 2.61 times as much energy into space as it receives from the Sun.
The gravity on Uranus is 8.69 m/s2 which almost 91% of the gravity on Earth (earth's gravity=9.81 m/s2 ), this is because it is such a large planet that has got a radius which is around 4 times the radius of earth and since the gravity is inversely proportional to square times the radius, therefore though the mass of Uranus is larger than Earth because of it's radius it got slightly lesser gravitational acceleration than on the surface of Earth.
The image here shows the size of Uranus in comparison to Earth.
Do you know?
Unlike Jupiter or Saturn, does not seem to have a solid core of any kind. The planet does contain some rocky material, but the planet is almost all gas, with the outer layer of methane providing the blue color.
Uranus's magnetosphere contains charged particles: protons and electrons with small amount of H2+ ions. No heavier ions have been detected. Many of these particles probably derive from the hot atmospheric corona.
This image is taken from Wikipedia. Here it shows another interesting fact about Uranus, its magnetic field.
The magnetic field is peculiar, both because it does not originate from the planet's geometric center, and because it is tilted at 59° from the axis of rotation. In fact the magnetic dipole is shifted from the center of the planet towards the south rotational pole by as much as one third of the planetary radius.
Do you know?
From 1995 to 2006, Uranus's apparent magnitude fluctuated between +5.6 and +5.9, placing it just within the limit of naked eye visibility at +6.5.
Do you know?
Uranus has got 27 moons orbiting around it.
A day on Uranus only takes 17 hours 14 minutes and 24 seconds.Because of its fast rotation, equatorial bulge can be easily observed. Uranus is 19.19AU or 1.79 billion miles away from Sun & 18.19AU from earth (as earth is exactly 1AU from Sun), hence it takes 84 years to complete one revolution.
Few other characteristics of Uranus:
Escape velocity : 21.3 km/s
Equatorial rotation velocity : 2.59 km/s
Equatorial radius : 25,559 km
Axial tilt : 97.77°
Gravitational acceleration
on surface : 8.69 m/s2
How is the revolution period of a planet known? Is it only by observations that are made or is their any other way to know?
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry for giving such a late reply.
DeleteHere's the answer: for calculating the revolution period of a planet we must first know the distance of that particular planet from sun(in AU) and then by using Kepler's third law the time period can be obtained in earth years.
For further detailed explanation please refer to astrophysics page of this blog which is about to open up in few days
nice trick ;)
ReplyDelete(links in dots)
how can I get the first picture from above (Uranus)? Is this free?
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your work here...