facts
- Uranus is surrounded by a set of 13 rings.
- Uranus is an ice giant (instead of a gas giant). It is mostly made of flowing icy materials above a solid core.
- Uranus is the only planet that spins on its side and in the opposite direction as Earth and most other planets.
- One year on Uranus is the same as 84 years on Earth. That’s a long time to wait for a birthday cake.
- Uranus has 27 known moons.
" ice giant "
Uranus is made of water, methane, and ammonia fluids above a small rocky center. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium like Jupiter and Saturn, but it also has methane. The methane makes Uranus blue. Uranus also has faint rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark. The outer rings are brightly colored and easier to see. Like Venus, Uranus rotates in the opposite direction as most other planets. And unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side.
This picture shows Uranus surrounded by its four major rings and by 10 of its moons
The Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Uranus. You can see bands and a dark spot in Uranus' atmosphere.
This false-color view of the rings of Uranus was made from images taken by Voyager 2 on Jan. 21, 1986, from a distance of 4.17 million kilometers (2.59 million miles). Image Credit: NASA/JPL