Uranus

This is the planet Uranus and its 4 largest moons at one 10-billionth actual size.

If Uranus were this big, how far away would Earth and other planets be? look at the map on the lower panel to find your position in the solar system?


Voyage to Uranus
The entire northern hemisphere of Uranus is bathed in summer sunshine. The Sun is to the right, above Uranus' north pole. Winter darkness in the southern hemisphere lasts 20 Earth years. A delicate system of rings and at least 27 moons circle the planet. You can see 2 of them: Miranda and Ariel.

More than Meets the Eye
Uranus looks bland, enshrouded by a haze that limits our view to the top of its atmosphere. But the atmosphere is deep, extending a fifth of the way to the planet's center. Below it, an immense ocean of water and ammonia—with more than 10 times the mass of Earth—may make up most of Uranus.

A World Tipped Over
As each planet orbits the Sun, it spins like a top on an axis that stays tipped in a particular direction. Earth is tipped 23.5 degrees. Uranus is tilted more than any other planet. Tipped at 82 degrees, it spins almost on its side.

Walk to Neptune about 246 steps

Imagine
In 1781, William Herschel found