THINGS ABOUT URANUS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
Added on: 13th Jun 2016
URANUS IS THE SMALLEST OF THE FOUR “GIANTS,”
(THE OTHERS BEING JUPITER, SATURN, AND NEPTUNE),
BUT IT IS STILL SEVERAL TIMES LARGER THAN EARTH.
IT HAS A DIAMETER OF 29,297 MILES, OR 47,150
KILOMETRES, COMPARED TO EARTH’S DIAMETER OF
JUST UNDER 8,000 MILES, OR 12,760 KILOMETRES.
BUT LIKE THE OTHER GAS GIANTS URANUS HAS A
HYDROGEN UPPER LAYER, WHICH HAS HELIUM
MIXED IN. BELOW THAT IS AN ICY MANTLE, WHICH
SURROUNDS A ROCK AND ICE CORE, WHICH IS THE
REASON WHY URANUS IS OFTEN REFERRED TO
AS AN “ICE GIANT” PLANET. THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE
IS MADE OF WATER, AMMONIA, AND THE METHANE
ICE CRYSTALS THAT GIVE THE PLANET ITS
PALE BLUE COLOUR
FROM THE TIME URANUS WAS FIRST OBSERVED,
SCIENTISTS NOTICED THAT AT CERTAIN POINTS
IN ITS ORBIT THE PLANET WAS BEING PULLED
FARTHER OUT INTO SPACE
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY CERTAIN ASTRONOMERS
HYPOTHESIZED THAT THIS PULL WAS DUE TO THE
GRAVITATIONAL PULL FROM ANOTHER PLANET
BY MAKING MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS BASED
ON OBSERVATIONS FROM URANUS, TWO ASTRONOMERS,
ADAMS AND LE VERRIER, IDENTIFIED THE LOCATION OF
THE OTHER PLANET
THE PLANET THAT WAS EXERTING A GRAVITATIONAL
PULL ON URANUS WAS NEPTUNE, 10.9 AU FARTHER
OUT IN SPACE
AND IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT AN AU IS,
DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM ARE MEASURED IN
ASTRONOMICAL UNITS (AU), WITH EARTH’S DISTANCE
FROM THE SUN BEING 1 AU. URANUS IS 19.2 AU
FROM THE SUN
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