![PLANET PROFILE: URANUS](https://cdn.magzter.com/1493279487/1648039571/articles/1Ga2ijw8J1648715498494/PLANET-PROFILE-URANUS.jpg)
The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus became the first planet to be found with the aid of a telescope on 13 March 1781 by British astronomer William Herschel. On that fateful night, he described observing a "nebulous star or perhaps a comet". Little did he know that he had just discovered Uranus, which was named after the Greek god of the sky - a name proposed by Johann Elert Bode in 1783.
240 years later, Uranus remains a puzzle. What is known is that Uranus is located about 2.9 billion kilometres (1.8 billion miles) from the Sun, about 19 times the distance from Earth to the star, meaning that one orbit of the Sun takes 84 Earth years. The planet is enormous, with a diameter of 50,724 kilometres (31,518 miles) - four times wider than Earth. Uranus has a compositional mass that is 80 per cent a fluid mixture of water, ammonia (NH,) and methane (CH,) ices. It's the methane in the outer atmosphere that gives it its blue-green colour, but the thick cloud coverage does not allow our instruments to peer down any further, and is one reason why Uranus remains an enigma.
Astronomers strongly suggest that below the planet's cloud tops is a main atmosphere which contains mostly hydrogen and helium by composition and has traces of methane and other volatiles. Below that is the fluid icy mantle, which makes up most of its composition by mass, but it's also theorised that the pressure and temperatures here are enough to make it “rain' diamonds at that depth. Finally, at the centre is the silicate iron-nickel core, thought to be between half to just over three times the mass of Earth.
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 128 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 128 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
!["We knew that this would be a historic comet"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1373895/J0Ir3DF_J1689222545336/crp_WE-KNEW-THAT-THIS-WOULD-BE-A-HISTORIC-COMET.jpg)
"We knew that this would be a historic comet"
Astronomer David Levy was immortalised for his co-discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – its impact with Jupiter 29 years ago held the world in awe
![CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/9W6-RaxLw1691734139571/CELESTRON-STARSENSE-EXPLORER-DX-102AZ.jpg)
CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ
Innovative technology provides the simplest and quickest solution yet to finding objects to observe, and this instrument will be very popular with beginners
![MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/Nh_FbuTQ-1691734037084/MOON-TOUR-COPERNICUS.jpg)
MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS
Get up close to the ‘Monarch of the Moon’
![A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/uwEzMFoAu1691733825533/A-HUNGRY-BLACK-HOLE-SWITCHES-ON-AS-ASTRONOMERS-WATCH-IN-SURPRISE.jpg)
A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE
J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet
![MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/PDJYII2fn1691733484726/MYSTERIES-OF-THE-UNIVERSE-WHY-DOES-JUPITER-CHANGE-COLOUR.jpg)
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?
For years, scientists have tried to work out why Jupiter’s bands frequently move and change colour. Now they believe they’ve found the answer
![MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/MVLXt4M7T1691733392016/MARS-HELICOPTER-PHONES-HOME-AFTER-A-63DAY-SILENCE.jpg)
MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE
Rugged terrain had kept Ingenuity from communicating with its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover
![SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/LEnJDVRyL1691733094104/SIX-OF-THE-BEST-SPACE-PRANKS.jpg)
SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS
It turns out that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to a good old-fashioned practical joke
![CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/ljdL__odK1691732627379/CLIMATES-CHANGE-IN-THE-SOLAR-SYSTEM.jpg)
CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Alongside Earth, our planetary neighbourhood is changing. But not for the better…
![TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/in1YHpDRV1691732364796/TIME-APPEARED-TO-MOVE-FIVE-TIMES-SLOWER-IN-THE-FIRST-BILLION-YEARS-AFTER-THE-BIG-BANG.jpg)
TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG
Time dilation, brought about by the relativistic expansion of space, has resulted in the observed slowing of ‘clocks’ in the early universe
![WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/V5ibLPxcW1691732121606/WHAT-CAN-WE-DO-WITH-A-CAPTURED-ASTEROID.jpg)
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?
Asteroids could provide us with rare resources