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Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
SUMMARY
| Uranus, named after the Greek god of heaven, is the seventh planet from the
sun. Uranus was discovered in 1781 by Willam Herschel. Until then, it was believed that
Saturn was the outermost planet. |
Composition
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| Uranus is a gas giant, like Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. It is composed of
hydrogen, helium, and methane gases surrounding a small, solid core. |
Atmosphere
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| Uranus' atmosphere is similar to the other gas giants. A thick layer of
hydrogen clouds covers the planet. Uranus is very cold because it is so far from the sun.
Temperatures can be as cold as -346 degrees Fahrenheit. |
Size
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| Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system. Its diameter is 32,000
miles. Uranus could hold about fifty planet Earth's if it were hollow. |
Orbit
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| Uranus is sometimes called the "planet on its side" because its axis
is lying completely horizontal compared to Earth's. Because of this, one pole or the other
is always pointing toward the sun. Right now, the south pole of Uranus is in the middle of
a forty-two year night, while the north pole is having a fourty-two year day. Eventually,
the north pole will point toward the sun, and the days and nights will be reversed. Uranus
is over 1.7 billion miles from the sun. A year on Uranus takes 84 Earth years. |
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