Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system, although not the most distant from the Sun. This giant was discovered back in the 18th century. Who discovered it, and what are the satellites of Uranus? What's special about this planet? Read the description of the planet Uranus below in the article.
Peculiarities
It is the seventh most distant planet from the Sun. It is the third in diameter, it is 50,724 km. Interestingly, Uranus is 1,840 km larger in diameter than Neptune, but Uranus is less massive, which puts it in fourth place among the solar system heavyweights.
The coldest planet is visible with the naked eye, but a telescope with a hundredfold magnification will allow you to see it better. The moons of Uranus are much harder to see. There are 27 of them in total, but they are significantly removed from the planet and much dimmer than it.
Uranus is one of the four gas giants, and together with Neptune forms a separate group. According to scientists, the gas giants arose much earlier than the planets that are part of the terrestrial group.
Discovery of Uranus
Because it can be seen in the sky without optical instruments, Uranus has often been mistaken for a dim star. Before it was determined that it was a planet, it was observed in the sky 21 times. John Flamseed was the first to notice it in 1690, indicating it as star number 34 in the constellation Taurus.
William Herschel is considered the discoverer of Uranus. On March 13, 1781, he observed the stars with a man-made telescope, suggesting that Uranus was a comet or a nebulous star. In his letters, he repeatedly pointed out that on March 13 he saw a comet.
News of a newly spotted celestial body quickly spread throughout the world. scientific circles. Some said it was a comet, although some scientists had doubts. In 1783, William Herschel declared that it was, after all, a planet.
They decided to name the new planet in honor greek god Uranus. All other names of the planets are taken from Roman mythology, and only the name of Uranus is from Greek.
Composition and characteristics
Uranus is 14.5 times larger than Earth. The coldest planet in the solar system does not have the solid surface we are accustomed to. It is assumed that it consists of a solid rock core covered with a shell of ice. And the top layer is the atmosphere.
The icy shell of Uranus is not solid. It consists of water, methane and ammonia and makes up about 60% of the planet. Due to the absence of a solid layer, difficulties arise in determining the atmosphere. Therefore, the outer gas layer is considered to be the atmosphere.
This shell of the planet is bluish-green due to its methane content, which absorbs red rays. It is only 2% on Uranus. The remaining gases that are included in the atmospheric composition are helium (15%) and hydrogen (83%).
Like Saturn, the coldest planet has rings. They were formed relatively recently. There is an assumption that they were once a satellite of Uranus, which broke up into many small particles. There are 13 rings in total, the outer ring has a blue light, followed by red, and the rest have a gray color.
Orbital movement
The coldest planet in the solar system is 2.8 billion kilometers away from Earth. The equator of Uranus is inclined to its orbit, so the rotation of the planet occurs almost “lying” - horizontally. It’s as if a huge ball of gas and ice is rolling around our star.
The planet orbits the Sun every 84 years, and its daylight hours last approximately 17 hours. Day and night change quickly only in a narrow equatorial strip. In other parts of the planet, the day lasts 42 years, and then the night lasts the same amount.
With such a long change in time of day, it was assumed that the temperature difference must be quite serious. However, the warmest place on Uranus is the equator, not the poles (even those illuminated by the Sun).
Climate of Uranus
As already mentioned, Uranus is the coldest planet, although Neptune and Pluto are located much further from the Sun. Its lowest temperature reaches -224 degrees on average
Researchers have noticed that Uranus is characterized by seasonal changes. In 2006, the formation of an atmospheric vortex on Uranus was noted and photographed. Scientists are just beginning to study the changing seasons on the planet.
It is known that clouds and wind exist on Uranus. As you approach the poles, the wind speed decreases. The highest wind speed on the planet was about 240 m/s. In 2004, from March to May, a sharp change in weather conditions was recorded: wind speed increased, thunderstorms began, and clouds appeared much more often.
There are such seasons on the planet: southern summer solstice, northern spring, equinox and northern summer solstice.
Magnetosphere and planetary research
The only spacecraft that managed to reach Uranus is Voyager 2. It was launched by NASA in 1977 specifically to explore the distant planets of our solar system.
Voyager 2 managed to discover new, previously invisible rings of Uranus, study its structure, as well as weather conditions. Until now, many of known facts about this planet are based on data received from this device.
Voyager 2 also discovered that the coldest planet has a magnetosphere. It was noted that the planet's magnetic field does not emanate from its geometric center. It is tilted 59 degrees from the axis of rotation.
Such data indicate that Uranus’s magnetic field is asymmetrical, unlike Earth’s. There is an assumption that this is a feature of icy planets, since the second icy giant - Neptune - also has an asymmetric magnetic field.
© Vladimir Kalanov,
website"Knowledge is power."
Uranus is the seventh planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun. The average distance of Uranus from the Sun is 2896.6 million km. Uranus is a large planet. It belongs to the group of gaseous giants. The diameter of the planet's equator at cloud level is 51,200 km. At the poles, Uranus is slightly flattened, so the disk of Uranus in a telescope is visible as an almost perfect circle with a greenish-blue tint. The volume of Uranus is 62.2 times greater than the volume of the Earth, and its mass is only 14.5 times greater than that of the Earth, because the density of the substance of Uranus is small, on average about 1.29 g/cm³. Therefore, the gravitational force on Uranus is almost equal to that on Earth.
With good vision, Uranus can be seen in a cloudless night sky even with the naked eye. But if someone has such a rare opportunity, he will see a tiny disk with a luminosity no higher than a 6th magnitude star. This possibility is more theoretical than practical, because Uranus is a very distant planet.
From the time of the discovery of Uranus in 1781 until the visit of the planet's environs by the Voyager 2 automatic station in 1986, i.e. For 205 years, astronomers' knowledge of this planet, in addition to the fact of its existence, contained only approximate information about its size, shape, atmospheric composition and trajectory. Therefore, let us immediately make a reservation that all the data presented in this article about the structure, composition, physical properties, climatic conditions, features of the movement of Uranus, as well as information about its satellites became known only after the flight of Voyager 2. The results of research carried out by this device are rightfully considered the second discovery of Uranus. Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977 from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA) and almost 9 years later reached the vicinity of Uranus. On January 24, 1986, Voyager 2 flew at a distance of 81,500 km from Uranus (from the cloud surface) at a speed of 46,000 km/h (13 km/s).
Within just a few hours, while Voyager 2's flyby of Uranus lasted, a large amount of information arrived on Earth, which became the basis of modern knowledge about this planet.
The Voyager 2 flight was planned at a time when the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were located in space almost in a straight line, as seen from Earth. Such a phenomenal “parade of planets” occurs once every 200 years. The plan of NASA specialists, bold to the point of insolence, was to explore four planets at once in one spacecraft flight. And this plan was successfully implemented. Having left the vicinity of Uranus, Voyager 2, three and a half years later, in August 1989, reached the planet Neptune, flying over its north pole at an altitude of only 4,500 km. Flying near Jupiter and Saturn, the device performed acceleration maneuvers, receiving acceleration from the gravitational fields of both of these planets. In the absence of these acceleration pulses, Voyager 2's journey to Uranus would have lasted about 30 years instead of 9 years.
And the last one in connection with the Voyager 2 mission. IN once again The giant planets will be lined up for the “parade” only around 2185. Until this distant date, people are unlikely to be able to explore distant planets (Uranus and Neptune) using automatic interplanetary probes. These planets are located at such enormous distances from the Earth that without using the “sling effect”, i.e. without gravitational acceleration near Jupiter and Saturn. Currently existing rocket systems will not be able to give the device the necessary impulse at the start, and there will not be enough fuel for maneuvers along the colossal trajectory of movement to Uranus or Neptune.
However, this cannot be stated categorically. Technological progress is developing rapidly on Earth, and it is quite possible that in the near future more powerful and reliable means of exploring the most distant planets and other space objects will appear.
Atmosphere and surface of Uranus
The atmosphere of Uranus is quite dense and consists of molecular hydrogen (84%), helium (14%), methane (2%) and small amounts of carbon monoxide, acetylene and nitrogen. The overall greenish-blue tint of the atmosphere is due to the fact that the rays of the red part of the spectrum are absorbed by the methane contained in the atmosphere. The height of the atmospheric layer is estimated at approximately 7000 km.
Based on theoretical calculations, it is believed that water clouds can
be in the range of pressure from 50 to 100 bar, clouds of ammonium hydrosulfide - in the range of 20-40 bar, clouds of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide,
representing the main cloud layer - in the range of 3-10 bar, methane - in the range of 1-2 bar.
Uranus moves in its orbit at a very large (almost 3 billion km) average distance from the Sun and, naturally, receives very little solar heat. Even on the daytime, illuminated side of the planet, the temperature does not constantly exceed an average of 80° K (about minus 200°C). The troposphere - the lowest and densest part of the atmosphere - is characterized by a decrease in temperature with height. The temperature drops from 320 K at the very beginning of the troposphere (at a depth of 300 km) to 53 K at an altitude of 50 km.
The upper part of the troposphere is covered by a layer of clouds. In this part of the atmosphere there is a layer containing the largest amount of methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen, compared to other, lower parts of the atmosphere. The pressure here is between 1 and 2 bar.
As we will see later, nature decreed that during one revolution of Uranus around the Sun, both hemispheres of the planet for almost twenty Earth years are continuously alternately illuminated by the Sun or immersed in the cold darkness of the night. It is logical to assume that in the “day” and “night” areas the temperature difference should be, if not enormous, then, in any case, significant. But Uranus does not obey human logic. It turned out that the temperature difference on the “day” and “night” sides of the planet is very insignificant. This was one of the surprises that Uranus presented to astronomers. After such facts, it does not seem surprising that in the upper part of the atmosphere of Uranus above the illuminated hemisphere, the temperature over different regions from the pole to the equator is almost the same, the fluctuations are only 4 ° C (from minus 208 to minus 212 ° C). This means that some, as yet unclear, mechanism of heat transfer from more heated areas to less heated ones is operating on the planet.
Photo in false colors, allowing you to differentiate the circulation of atmospheric flows.
In mid-latitudes, strong winds blow from west to east, often with hurricane speeds of up to 550-600 km/h. In lower latitudes, the winds are weaker, up to 350 km/h, and they blow along the equator in the opposite direction. Judging by the images transmitted by Voyager 2 and taken from Earth using telescopes, hurricanes on Uranus rage intermittently, at times the atmosphere calms down, and then “wakes up” again, creating vortices and setting clouds and lower layers in motion. This may be explained by the low energy level of internal heat sources on the planet. It is believed that only 30% of the heat is released from the bowels of the planet, the remaining 70% comes from solar radiation. But this is very little. For comparison, we point out that Uranus receives about 400 times less heat from the Sun than the Earth.
The concept of surface for Uranus, as for other gaseous planets, is, strictly speaking, inapplicable. We usually perceive the upper cloud layer of the atmosphere as the surface. Whether there is anything like the earth's firmament on Uranus, one can only guess and build hypotheses about this. It seems, however, that such an activity is not very productive.
© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"
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Your work is disabled JavaScript. Please enable scripts in your browser, and the full functionality of the site will open to you!It is the third largest of the four gas giants. It was discovered in 1871 by Frederick William Herschel.
Uranus is surprising in that it is the only planet in the Solar System that has an axis lying in the plane of motion of the planets around the Sun, and rings perpendicular to this plane.
If you imagine this, then Uranus rotates lying on its side.
The planet makes one revolution every 84 Earth years. The change of seasons occurs only in a small area near the poles. So for 42 years it’s summer at one pole, after 42 years it’s summer at the other pole, and at the opposite pole it’s winter, respectively.
The cold zone, the side of the planet that faces away from the sun has a temperature of -271 °C to -268 °C (2 to 5 K), while the temperature on the side of the planet facing the sun has a temperature of -213 ° WITH.
This is officially accepted data. But on the other hand, the planet is a gas giant, and it simply does not have any clearly defined surface.
First there is gas, then closer to the center of the planet there is liquid or liquefied gas under the influence of pressure, and perhaps even closer to the center there is solid rock, but which exists and was formed only due to the colossal pressure on it.
The planet's atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium, with traces of methane and other hydrocarbons.
Uranus orbits the Sun at a distance of 2,871 million km. Rotation around its axis takes about 17 hours, which is less than rotation and.
The planet's mass is fifteen masses and its density is 1.2 g/cm3.
The planet's radius is approximately 26,200 km.
The planet has a blue color - this color is given to the planet by the methane contained in its atmosphere.
In the interior of Uranus, three zones are distinguished: a hot core with a radius of 7500 km, consisting of iron and silicates. Shell-mantle 10,000 km of ice, water, methane and ammonia.
The surface layer consists of helium, hydrogen and methane.
Uranus, unlike Jupiter and Saturn, does not have an internal intense source of thermal radiation.
Since 1977, nine rings around Uranus have been discovered. The Voyager probe confirmed their existence, and discovered two more. These eleven rings are located between 41,800 and 51,200 km from the planet.
Uranus has 15 natural satellites (according to some sources - 17).
| Basic information about Uranus. | Parameters of Uranus |
||
| Diameter (km) | ok. 52 400 km | Mass (relative to Earth) | 14,53 |
| Distance from the Sun (million km) | 2871 | Orbital eccentricity | 0,047 |
| Orbital speed (km/s) | 6,81 | The inclination of the axis of rotation relative to the ecliptic |
0 * 46 `23 `` |
| Orbital period around the Sun | 84,018 years | Surface temperature | from - 271 o C to -213 o C |
| Period of rotation around its axis | 17 hours 15 minutes | Number of satellites | 17 |
The planet Uranus owes its discovery to Herschel, who studied the sky through a telescope he designed.
Before its discovery, the planet Uranus was repeatedly noticed and mistakenly classified as a star. Among the stationary celestial bodies, the English astronomer noticed one moving along a trajectory and differing from the rest in color. So, at the end of the 18th century, a new planet was discovered. In the name chosen, the discoverer wanted to glorify King George III, but his idea was not successful. A few years later, the German Bonet, who continued to study the unknown body, proposed the name of the Greek god - Uranus, which was recognized by the public.
Location
Uranus managed to remain undetected for so long because of its exceptional distance from the star. The distance from the Sun to the distant giant is 2.8 billion km. This is the seventh planet in our system. Astronomers classify it as a gas giant. The colossal distance from the source of heat and energy made Uranus the coldest planet among all those studied. Record low temperatures were recorded on the surface of the giant; it drops to -220 degrees Celsius.
Features of the planet
Uranus is unique in its location, its axis is tilted at 98 degrees, which forces the original planet to orbit while lying on its side. In this position, the main flow of solar energy is directed to the polar regions, but, contrary to logical conclusions, the temperature at the equator is higher. The direction of rotation of the ice giant is the opposite of its orbital motion. Uranus makes one revolution in 84 Earth years, and a day passes in 17 hours; this period is calculated approximately due to the uneven movement of the gaseous surface.
Features of structure and atmosphere
Weight celestial body is 8.68x10 in 25 kg, it is less than the weight of the gas giants located nearby. This is due to the minimum density of the planet - 1.27 g/cm3, which is based on light components. Its structure includes a core of iron and stone; the mantle - the icy body that makes up most of the giant, and the atmosphere. This model was developed theoretically; it was based on the study of the gravitational influence of Uranus on satellites. The spectacular blue glow of the planet is given by the presence of methane particles in the upper layers, its mass fraction is 2%. The basis of the gas shell is hydrogen – 82% and helium – 15%. The remainder is divided into ammonia and acetylene. The mantle is not an icy shell in the physical sense - it is a modified mixture of water and ammonia. There is no solid surface on the planet; this level is calculated conventionally based on pressure indicators.
The lower region of the atmosphere is dynamic and subject to hurricane winds. Above it there is a tropopause with clouds of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Seasons on Uranus last several years, during which time one hemisphere is deprived sunlight. The planet's magnetic field is powerful and complex, its axis is shifted from the axis of rotation by 60 degrees.
Rings of Uranus
The planet is surrounded by its own, consisting of particles of different diameters. Having dark color, they do not stand out and are difficult to see. They were only reviewed in 1977. There are 13 rings - 11 internal and 2 external, having a colored spectrum.
Satellites
Uranus is not alone in space; its company is shared by 27 large and small satellites. Two of them were discovered in 1787 by William Herschel, and 80 years later the next pair was discovered. The last of the five large satellites was spotted almost a century later. These space objects are spherical in shape, their bodies are made of ice and stone. Each of them has its own characteristics: – the moon closest to Uranus, – has a very dark surface, – the youngest and lightest, – cut by craters, traces of past volcanic activity. similar in size and appearance to Oberon - these are the two largest satellites. 22 objects were discovered later, using powerful telescopes and the "" apparatus. For titles, it is customary to use the names of characters in works by Shakespeare and Pope.
Basic parameters of the planet
Weight: 86.832 x 10*24 kg
Volume: 6833 x 10*10 km3
Average radius: 25362 km
Average diameter: 50724 km
Average density 1.270 g/cm3
First escape velocity: 21.3 km/s
Gravity acceleration: 8.87 m/s 2
Natural satellites: 27
Presence of rings - yes
Semi-major axis: 2872460000 km
Orbital period: 30685.4 days
Perihelion: 2741300000 km
Aphelion: 3003620000 km
Average orbital speed: 6.81 km/s
Orbital inclination: 0.772°
Orbital eccentricity: 0.0457
Stellar rotation period: 17.24 hours
Length of day: 17.24 hours
Axial tilt: 97.77°
Opening date: March 13, 1781
Minimum distance from Earth: 2581900000 km
Maximum distance from Earth: 3157300000 km
Maximum visible diameter from Earth: 4.1 arcseconds
Minimum visible diameter from Earth: 3.3 arcseconds
Maximum magnitude: 5.32
Uranus– the seventh planet of the solar system and the ice giant: description with photos, size, axis tilt, distance from the Sun, atmosphere, satellites, rings, research.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest planet in solar system after Jupiter and Saturn. It has a collection of satellites and a ring system.
Although it can be found without the use of magnifying instruments, its planetary status was only discovered in the 18th century. Let's take a closer look at interesting facts about Uranus for children and adults.
Interesting facts about the planet Uranus
Discovered by William Herschel in 1781
- This is a dim planet, so it was inaccessible to ancient people. At first, Herschel thought he was seeing a comet, but after a couple of years the object received planetary status. The scientist wanted to call it “Georg’s Star,” but Johann Bode’s version was better suited.
Axial rotation takes 17 hours and 14 minutes
- The planet Uranus is characterized by retrograde, which does not coincide with the general direction.
A year lasts 84 years
- But some areas are directed directly towards the Sun and this lasts for about 42 years. The rest of the time is spent in darkness.
It's an ice giant
- Like other gas giants, the top layer of Uranus is composed of hydrogen and helium. But below is an icy mantle, concentrated above an icy and rocky core. Upper atmosphere– water, ammonia and methane ice crystals.
Frost Planet
- With a temperature of -224°C, it is considered the coldest planet. Periodically, Neptune cools even more, but most of the time Uranus freezes. The upper atmospheric layer is covered with a methane haze, hiding storms.
There are two sets of thin rings
- The particles are extremely small. There are 11 inner and 2 outer rings. Formed during the crash of ancient satellites. The first rings were noticed only in 1977, and the rest were seen in Hubble telescope images in 2003-2005.
The moons are named after literary characters.
- All the moons of Uranus are named after the characters of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Miranda is considered the most interesting with icy canyons and a strange surface.
Sent one mission
- Voyager 2 visited Uranus in 1986 at a distance of 81,500 km.
Size, mass and orbit of the planet Uranus
With a radius of 25,360 km, a volume of 6.833 × 10 13 km 3 and a mass of 8.68 × 10 25 kg, the planet Uranus is 4 times larger than the Earth and 63 times larger in volume. But do not forget that this is a gas giant with a density of 1.27 g/cm 3, so here it is inferior to us.
| Polar compression | 0,02293 |
|---|---|
| Equatorial | 25,559 km |
| Polar radius | 24,973 km |
| Surface area | 8.1156 10 9 km² |
| Volume | 6.833 10 13 km³ |
| Weight | 8.6832 10 25 kg 14.6 earth |
| Average density | 1.27 g/cm³ |
| Acceleration free falls at the equator |
8.87 m/s² |
| Second escape velocity | 21.3 km/s |
| Equatorial speed rotation |
2.59 km/s 9,324 km/h |
| Rotation period | 0.71833 days |
| Axis tilt | 97.77° |
| Right ascension north pole |
257.311° |
| North pole declination | −15.175° |
| Albedo | 0.300 (Bond) 0.51 (geom.) |
| Apparent magnitude | 5,9 - 5,32 |
| Angular diameter | 3,3"-4,1" |
Uranus has the greatest variable distance from the Sun. In fact, the distance varies between 2,735,118,110 km and 3,006,224,700 km. With an average distance of 3 billion km, one orbital passage takes 84 years.
The rotation of the axis lasts 17 hours and 14 minutes (that's how long a day takes on Uranus). Visible in the upper atmospheric layer strong wind in the direction of rotation. At some latitudes, masses move faster and complete a revolution in 14 hours.
The amazing thing is that this planet rotates almost on its side. While some have a slight axial tilt, Uranus’s index reaches 98°. Because of this, the planet passes through dramatic changes. At the equator, night and day last normally, but at the poles they span 42 years!
Composition and surface of the planet Uranus
The planetary structure is represented by three layers: a rocky core, an icy mantle and an outer shell of hydrogen (83%) and helium (15%) in a gaseous state. There is another important element - 2.3% methane ice, which affects the blue color of Uranus. Various hydrocarbons can be found in the stratosphere, including ethane, diacetylene, acetylene and methyl acetylene. In the bottom photo you can carefully study the structure of Uranus.
Using spectroscopy, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were detected in the upper layers, as well as ice clouds of water vapor and ammonia with hydrogen sulfide. That is why Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants.
The ice mantle is represented by a hot and dense liquid, which contains water, ammonia and other volatile substances. The liquid (water-ammonia ocean) is characterized by high electrical conductivity.
The mass of the core reaches only 0.55 of the Earth's, and its radius is 20% of the total planetary size. The mantle is 13.4 Earth masses, and the upper atmospheric layer is 0.5 Earth masses.
The density of the core is 9 g/cm3, where the pressure in the center rises to 8 million bar and the temperature is 5000K.
Moons of the planet Uranus
The family consists of 27 known moons of Uranus, divided into large, internal and irregular. The largest are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon and Titania. Their diameter exceeds 472 km, and their mass is 6.7 x 10 19 kg for Miranda, as well as 1578 km and 3.5 x 10 21 kg for Titania.
It is believed that all large moons appeared in an accretion disk that was present around the planet for a long time after its formation. Each is represented by an almost equal ratio of rock and ice. The only standout is Miranda, who is almost entirely made of ice.
You can also note the presence of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and the rock contains carbonaceous material and organic compounds. It is believed that in Titania and Oberon, a liquid water ocean may exist at the line between the core and the mantle. The surface is generously dotted with craters. Ariel is considered the youngest and “purest”, but Umbriel is an old woman with scars.
The main satellites have no atmosphere, and the orbital path results in strong seasonal variations. There are 13 inner moons: Cordelia, Ophelia, Biyanka, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck and Mab. All of them received their names in honor of the heroes of Shakespeare's works. The photo shows the moons and rings of Uranus.
The inner satellites have a strong connection with the planet's ring system. With a diameter of 162 km, Pak is considered the largest moon in this group and the only one whose image was captured by Voyager 2.
They all appear as dark bodies. Formed from water ice with dark organic material. The system is unstable and models indicate that a collision may occur. Desdemona and Cressida are of particular concern.
There are 9 irregular satellites whose orbit is further than Oberon. They were captured after the formation of the planet itself: Francisco, Caliban, Stefano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margarita, Prospero, Setebos and Ferdinand. They cover 18-150 km. Everyone rotates in a retrograde direction, except Margarita.
Atmosphere and temperature of the planet Uranus
The atmosphere of Uranus is also divided into layers determined by temperature and pressure. It is a gas giant and therefore lacks a solid surface. Remote probes can go down to 300 km in depth.
We can distinguish the troposphere (300 km below the surface and 50 km above it with a pressure of 100-0.1 bar) and the stratosphere (50-4000 km and 0.1-10 10 bar).
Most dense layer– the troposphere, where heating reaches 46.85°C and drops to -220°C. The upper region is considered the frostiest in the system. Most of the IR rays are created in the tropopause.
Here there are clouds: water, below are ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, and above are thin methane clouds. In the stratosphere, temperatures vary from -220°C to 557°C due to solar radiation. This layer is marked by ethane smog, which creates appearance planets. There are acetylene and methane, which heat this ball.
The thermosphere and corona cover 4000-50000 km from the "surface" point, where the temperature remains at 577°C. So far, no one knows exactly how the planet manages to warm up so much, because it is far from the Sun, and there is not enough internal heat.
The weather is reminiscent of older gas giants. There are stripes that orbit the planet. As a result, winds accelerate to 900 km/h, leading to large-scale storms. In 2012, the Hubble telescope spotted the Dark Spot, a giant vortex extending over 1,700 km x 3,000 km.
Rings of the planet Uranus
The rings of the planet Uranus are made up of dark particles ranging in size from a micrometer to a fraction of a meter, so they are not so easy to see. Now we can identify 13 rings, among which the brightest is epsilon. Apart from two narrow ones, they stretch for several kilometers in width.
The rings are young and formed after the planet itself. It is believed that they are part of a destroyed moon (or several). One of the first observations of rings was made by James Elliott, Jessica Mink and Edward Dunham in 1977. During the eclipse of the star HD 128598, they found 5 formations.
The rings also appeared in photographs taken by Voyager 2 in 1986. And new ones were discovered by the Hubble telescope in 2005. The largest is twice as wide as the planet. In 2006, the Keck Observatory showed the rings in color: the outer rings are blue and the inner ones are red. The rest appear grey.
History of the study of the planet Uranus
Uranus is on the list of five planets that could be seen with the naked eye. But this is a dim object, and the orbital path is too slow, so the ancients believed that this was a classical star. An early review is by Hipparchus, who pointed out the body as a star in 128 BC. e.