🌍 Uranus is the seventh planet in the solar system, the third in diameter and the fourth in mass. It was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel and was named after the Greek sky god Uranus.
Uranus is the most mysterious and least studied planet of the solar system. When in 1986 the Voyager 2 space station transmitted images of this ice giant to Earth, scientists called the blue planet "inexpressive" since it has no bright bands, like Jupiter, no prominent rings, like Saturn, and in terms of temperature indicators, Uranus is even colder than Neptune, which is farther from the Sun.
However, despite this ordinary appearance, Uranus has unique characteristics. A remarkable magnetosphere, an unusual axial tilt that differs from the rest of the planets in the solar system, and a particular chemical composition...
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💥 The Mysterious Planet Uranus:
- Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system. At 25,362 km, Uranus' radius is slightly larger than Neptune's. It is also the seventh planet from the Sun. Beyond it there is only Neptune, if we do not take into account the dwarf planet Pluto.
The mass of the planet has been determined by calculations based on astronomical observations of the gravitational influence that Uranus exerts on its moons. Although the volume of Uranus is 63 times larger than that of our Earth, its mass is only 14.5 times larger than the Earth, which makes it the least massive of the giant planets of the solar system.
This is due to the fact that the average density of Uranus is 1.27 g/cm3, a little more than that of water. Thus, it is the second least dense planet in the solar system, after Saturn. These low densities are typical of the four giant planets, which are composed mainly of light chemical elements.
The planet Uranus is located at a little more than 19 astronomical units from the Sun, i.e. 19 times farther than the Earth from the Sun, i.e. about 2.9 billion km, so its orbital motion is hardly perceptible and requires long term observations.
Following an elongated orbit, Uranus can reach a maximum distance, called aphelion, of about 20 astronomical units and a minimum distance, called perihelion, of 18 astronomical units from the star. By the way, Uranus has the biggest difference between aphelion and perihelion than any other planet of the solar system.
Since the planets of the solar system are constantly in motion, the distance between them changes daily. Thus, at its closest, Uranus is 2.7 billion kilometers from the Earth.
For a long time, it was impossible to determine the rotation period of Uranus around its axis from observations made from Earth. It was only when the Voyager 2 probe flew close to Uranus, that it turned out that the rotation of the latter around its axis takes 17 hours and 14 minutes.
But gas giants do not rotate like rocky planets. The speeds differ according to the latitudes. Since in the upper layers of the atmosphere, the winds blow at a speed of up to 240 m / s, in the direction of rotation of the planet, the clouds there can make a complete revolution around the planet in only 14 hours.
As the rotation axis of Uranus is almost in the plane of its orbit, it moves around the Sun in a rolling motion. This characteristic is unique in our Solar System. All the other planets turn around our star like a top. This is one of the most remarkable phenomena of Uranus, which remains unexplained.
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🎬 On the program today:
- 00:00 - Introduction
- 01:47 - Physical characteristics of Uranus
- 03:06 - Orbit and rotation of Uranus
- 09:17 - The magnetic field of Uranus
- 15:04 - Discovery and exploration of Uranus
- 21:54 - Mysterious formation of Uranus
- 25:19 - Strange structure of Uranus
- 29:01 - Uranus' new atmosphere
- 36:59 - Why is Uranus the coldest planet?
- 39:13 - Invisible rings of Uranus
- 43:23 - The moons of Uranus
- 50:22 - Why is Uranus tilted ?
- 59:05 - What is the reason for the foul smell of Uranus ?
- 01:00:53 - Why is Uranus blue ?
- 01:02:30 - Storms on Uranus
- 01:04:08 - How are the "diamond" rains formed on Uranus ?
- 01:05:55 - What is the future outlook for Uranus ?