Top 10 Facts about Uranus

Plus you can learn more about what’s in our Solar System with our Top 10 Facts on the Sun and the Moon; the planets Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto.

Welcome to our list of the Top 10 Facts about Uranus! Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third-largest in the Solar System. It is one of the four giant planets in the Solar System, and it has a unique blue-green colour, due to its methane-rich atmosphere. Uranus is also notable for its tilted orbit, which is tipped by almost 98 degrees. Discover more interesting facts about Uranus below.

1. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun in our Solar system.

2. It was the first planet to be discovered through a telescope

It was the first planet found with a telescope. Other planets like Venus could be seen in the night sky without a telescope however Uranus cannot.

Uranus was discovered in 1781 by an astronomer called William Herschel, although he originally thought it was either a comet or a star.

3. You could fit 63 Earths inside Uranus.

It has a diameter of 25,362 km.

4. Uranus is an ‘Ice Giant’

Uranus is an ice giant. It’s made up of dense “icy” materials, mainly water, methane and ammonia – above a small rocky core.

5. Uranus has 13 rings

Uranus has two sets of rings.

The inner rings are dark and grey whereas the outer rings are blue and red.

6. The discoverer of Uranus wanted it to be called Georgium Sidus

William Herschel tried unsuccessfully to name his discovery Georgium Sidus after King George III. Instead, the planet was named for Uranus, after the Greek god of the sky. This makes sense because the other planets are also named after Gods.

7. Uranus is the only planet not named after a Roman God

All of the other planets in the solar system are named after Roman Gods except Uranus. Instead Uranus is named after a Greek God. The Roman equivalent of Uranus is Caelus.

8. Uranus’ Moons are named after Shakespeare characters

Uranus has 27 known moons, and they are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

These names include Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prospero from The Tempest and Cordelia from King Lear

9. Uranus formed 4.5 billion years ago

Uranus took shape when the rest of the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Uranus likely formed closer to the Sun and moved to the outer solar system about 4 billion years ago. Neptune also did this.

10. A day on Uranus is only 17 hours and a year is 84 Earth years

One day on Uranus takes about 17 hours which is the time it takes for Uranus to rotate on its axis once. And Uranus makes a complete orbit around the Sun (a year in Uranian time) in about 84 Earth years – so you’d probably only have 1 birthday in your whole life if you lived on Uranus.

Let’s keep learning with our Top 10 Facts about Space and Top 10 Facts about the Solar System. Plus you can learn more about what’s in our Solar System with our Top 10 Facts on the Sun and the Moon; the planets Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto.