Uranus

Hello! My name is Uranus. I am the seventh planet in the orbit around the sun. I rotate in a retrograde direction, opposite to the way Earth rotates. I orbit the Sun on my sides, again different from the rest of the planets. All planets look like a spinning top as they go around the Sun. But I look more like a ball rolling in a circular pattern. Scientist think that a huge space object about the size of earth have crashed into me causing me to tip.

 

This is a photo of my tilt compared to other planets.

One day on me is about 18 Earth hours and one trip around the Sun takes 84 Earth years! If you look in the right direction on a very dark night, you will be able to see me without the help of a telescope.

Fun Fact: Only one spacecraft has flown by Uranus and that happened way back in 1986!

This is how I look like!

People refer to me as an ice giant planet. I am in fact the coldest planet in the Solar System at -224 degree Celsius. Below my hydrogen upper layer, I have an icy mantle core. My upper atmosphere is made of water, ammonia and methane ice crystals giving me a pale blue color. About 27 satellites surround me. I also have planetary rings (although not as famous as Saturn’s rings) surrounding me, but it is harder to see due to their low reflectivity of light.

Quick Facts
Discovery: 1781 by William Herschel (was originally thought to be a star)
Named for the personification of heaven in ancient myth
Diameter: 31,763 miles (51,120 km)
Orbit: 84 Earth years
Day: 18 Earth hours