By; Ashley Lyons

1. Uranus By; Ashley Lyons

2. Uranus Questions (part 1) • What are the main differences between our planet and Uranus? 1) Uranus is 14 times the size of Earth. 2) Uranus takes 84 years to revolve around the sun. 3) Gases there are; methane, hydrogen, and helium. • What is the atmosphere like on Uranus? 1) The air is full of methane, hydrogen, and helium.

3. Uranus Questions (part 2) • What type of materials are Uranus made of? 1) More than 80% of the mass of Uranus is contained in an extended liquid core consisting primarily of ‘icy’ materials (water, methane, and ammonia) • How does Uranus compare to the size of Earth? How about the sun? 1) Uranus is 14.5 times the size of earth. 2) The sun is about 26.8 times bigger than Uranus.

4. Uranus Questions (part 3) • What color is Uranus? 1) Uranus is blue. • How far away from earth is Uranus? 1) Uranus is about 1.6 billion miles away from earth. • How many moons does Uranus have? 1) Uranus has about 27 moons.

5. Uranus Questions (part 4) • How did Uranus get it’s name? 1) Herschel did not name the planet Uranus, he called it “the GeorgiumSidus” (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George ||| of England. The name “Uranus” was first proposed by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in order for it to be in conformity with the other planetary names – which are from classical mythology. Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. This name, Uranus, didn’t achieve common use until 1850. • How long would it take to travel to Uranus? 1) With a voyager it took 9 ½ years.

6. Uranus Questions (part 5) • What is the surface of Uranus like? 1) Because of it’s low density level, the gravity on the planet is weak therefore the gravity on the planet would only be 89% of what it would feel like walking on Earth. Uranus is a as planet that doesn’t really have a solid surface. • Are there any geographic features of Uranus? 1) There is no real surface to the planet. • When was Uranus discovered? By whom? 1) March 13, 1781, by William Herschel.

7. Uranus Questions (part 6) • What have we done to explore Uranus? 1) NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew closely past distant Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, in January 1986. At it’s closest, the spacecraft came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of Uranus’s cloud tops on Jan. 24, 1986. • What are the temperatures like on Uranus? 1) -224 degrees Celsius • What is time like on your planet? 1) It takes 84 earth years to revolve around the sun, Earth takes 1 year.

8. Uranus Questions (part 7) • What are the season like on Uranus? 1) It’s usually frigid, but sometimes one side of Uranus is bubbling gas. • How long does it take Uranus to rotate around the Sun? 1) 84 years. • What is the mass of your planet? 1) The mass of Uranus is 8.68 x 1025 kg. Want to put that in perspective? That’s 14.536 times more than the mass of Earth.

9. Uranus Questions (part 8) • What is the volume of Uranus? Volume, 6833 x 1010 km3 • What is the diameter of Uranus’? The diameter of Uranus is 51118 km. • Does Uranus have any rings? Yes.

10. Uranus Questions (part 9) • Could Uranus support any human life? Why or why not? 1) No, because it’s a gas planet. The main gases are methane, helium, and hydrogen.

11. Fun Facts • 1) Uranus is a very strange planet. When it was first discovered, people wanted to name it Dumbbell. This was because the planet made scientists look like dumbbells by going undiscovered for so long. • 2) Uranus is the only known planet that rotates, or spins, on it’s side. Scientists think that Uranus was knocked onto it’s side during formation by an Earth-sized object. There is an ongoing battle between scientists about Uranus’ North and South poles. Neither one is up, so you can’t tell which is which! • 3) One of Uranus’ moons, Umbriel, has a bright ring on it called the Florescent Cheerio. From what they’ve seen, astronomers think it is the bottom of a crater.