Welcome to Uranus
The Tilted Planet
The Discovery of Uranus
Shakespeare's Moons
Miranda, a moon of Uranus
Ten Facts about Uranus
| Diameter | 51,118 km / 31.763 miles |
| Avg. distance from Sun | 2,869,328,000 km / 1,740,200,000 miles |
| Number of known moons | 27 |
| Time taken to turn on axis | 17 hours, 14 minutes |
| Time taken to orbit Sun | 84 years |
| Surface gravity | 1.11 |
| Temp. at cloud tops | -200 °C / -328 °F |
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third
largest in the Solar System. In 1781, Uranus was the first planet to be "discovered" - all of the other planets had been
observed from Earth since ancient times. It is a dull blue colour, mainly consisting of
frozen gas with a possible rocky
core. Uranus has a faint ring system and has at least 27 moons orbiting it. The planet is unusual because it orbits
the Sun on its side, possibly the result of a collision during the formation of the Solar System.


