Uranus’ moons are worthy of note. One can define three general catagories of moons in our solar system. This is an arbitrary
distinction perhaps, but it does serve to describe the different types of natural satellites that we find orbiting planets.
In this definition, there are three types:
•
native moons
•
captured moons
•
shepherd moons
Uranus has examples of each of these three types:
Ariel .seems to have formed with the planet.
The equatorial radius of
Uranus is 25,559 km.
This makes the planet very
nearly four times larger
than Earth
Uranus spins in 17h 17m at
the equator. That’s not
quite as fast as Jupiter or
Saturn, but faster than any
of the terrestrial planets.
Uranus orbits the Sun at an average distance of 19.2 A.U. It
receives about four hundred times less radiative energy from
our central star.
With an orbital period of 84 years, Uranus has not quite gone
around the Sun three times since being discovered in the 18th
century.
Uranus' outermost layers consist of hydrogen and
helium gas. But below that, there is a deep layer of
ice, primarily H
2
O, but with methane and ammonia
in the mix as well.
There is also a slight amount of other, more exotic
compounds.
Uranus has a strange, tilted magnetic field that
is off-centered as well. It is thought that the
conducting fluid that create Uranus’ magnetic
field is highly compressed water.
Uranus’ clouds are essentially
featureless. The planet resembles
a very large robin’s egg!
The rings of Uranus were discovered
somewhat by accident in 1977. Or were
they seen by Wm. Herschel? For most
telescopic observations, the rings are
invisible from Earth. Unlike Saturn, the
ring particles of Uranus rings consist of
dirty ice.
.
