32 Amazing Uranus Facts

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published January 11, 2019Updated August 15, 2019

The correct pronunciation of Uranus is [YUR-uh-nus] not [Your Anus]._[4]
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the third-largest planet in our solar system. It is about four times as wide as Earth._[3]
Even though Uranus is the third largest planet in our solar system and four hundred times the size of Earth, the planet is not readily visible to the naked eye. However, at magnitude 5.3, Uranus is just within the brightness scale for the human eye to see in perfect conditions._[3]
Uranus was too dim for ancient civilizations to see it._[3]
Uranus is the first planet to be discovered in modern times._[3]
Uranus orbits the sun every 84 Earth years._[3]

If Earth were a large apple, Uranus would be the size of a basketball

If Uranus were hollow, about 50 planet Earths could fit inside._[4]
Unlike most of the other planets in our solar system that are named after a Roman god, Uranus is named after a Greek god._[3]
Uranus was almost called Hypercronius ("above Saturn"), Georgium Sidus ("The Georgian Planet") after then-King of England, George III._[4]
Uranus has a thick atmosphere that becomes denser the deeper it goes. If someone were to fall off their spacecraft toward Uranus, they would find themselves half-falling and half-swimming through the planet's atmosphere._[4]
Seasons on Uranus can last as long as 20 years._[4]
Uranus orbits on its side. The other planets in the solar system tilt slightly toward the Sun; for example, Earth is tilted around 23. 5 degrees from the sun's plane. Uranus is tilted 99 degrees._[3]
Uranus has the third most number of moons in the solar system, after Jupiter._[3]
British musician and amateur skywatcher William Herschel discovered Uranus on March 13, 1781._[4]

I have looked further into space than ever human being did before me.

- William Herschel

Uranus is the second-least-dense planet in the solar system, after Saturn. This low density means that you could hypothetically stand on Uranus' cloud tops._[3]
NASA's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft in the history of spaceflight that has made a close approach to Uranus. On January 24th, 1986, it passed within 81,000 km of Uranus' atmosphere._[3]
All of Uranus's 27 moons are named after characters from William Shakespeare's plays or characters in the works of Alexander Pope._[1]
Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system, even though Neptune is much farther away from the sun than Uranus._[3]

Uranus, not Neptune, is the coldest planet in the solar system

Uranus gets about 1/400th of the sunlight that Earth does._[1]
Sometimes one pole of Uranus faces directly toward the Sun, while the other pole faces away. Scientists think that something the size of a planet might have collided with Uranus and toppled it onto its side._[1]
Methane, or natural gas, gives Uranus its blue color._[1]
One of Uranus's moons, Miranda, is not like any other object in the solar system astronomers have discovered so far. It looks like it has been turned inside out._[1]
German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered uranium. He named the compound after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier._[1]
It takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes for sunlight to reach Uranus, which is 20 times longer than it takes to reach Earth._[1]
Saturn isn't the only planet with with rings; Uranus has 13 very faint rings._[1]

Uranus probably smells like rotten eggs

Uranus probably smells bad. The clouds in Uranus’s upper atmosphere are made up largely of hydrogen sulfide, which is what makes rotten eggs stink._[3]
One day on Uranus is 17 hours and 54 Earth minutes._[1]
The name "Uranus" is an homage to the Greek god Ouranos, Father Sky, who is the father of Cronus (Saturn) and the grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter)._[2]
Uranus has traditionally been nicknamed "the most boring planet in the solar system" because, at first glance, it doesn't seem as vibrant or full of interesting data as other planets. However, scientists are trying to disprove that perception._[1]
Uranus was the first planet discovered through use of a telescope._[1]
Uranus was discovered before Antarctica._[1]
Due to extreme high temperature and pressure, it rains diamonds on Uranus._[2]