Uranus is a greenish-blue planet, twice as far from the Sun as its neighbor Saturn. Uranus wasn't discovered until 1781. Its discoveror, William Herschel, named it Georgium Sidus (the Georgian star) after the English king, George III. Laterits name was changed to Uranus, after an ancient Greek sky god, since all the other planets had been named after Roman and Greek gods.
Uranus courtesy of JPL/Caltech/NASA |
Size: 4 times larger than EarthDiameter: 32,193 miles (51,810 km)Surface: Little is knownAtmosphere: Hydrogen, helium, and methaneTemperature: uniform temperature of –353°F (–214°C)Rotation of its axis: 17 hoursRotation around the Sun: 30,685 days or 84 Earth yearsYour weight: Not knownDistance from Earth: At the closest point, 1,607,000 miles (2586216 km)Mean Distance from Sun: 1,783.98 million miles (2,870 million km)Satellites: 17Rings: 11 Return to Planet Index
