The Seventh Planet
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest planet in the solar system. Uranus is named after the Greek god of the same name, the god of the sky.
Uranus Quick Facts
| Uranus | Earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of Planet | Gas Giant | Terrestrial |
| Moons | Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, and at least 22 others | The Moon |
| Rings | 13 known | None |
| Mass | 8.681 × 1025 kg | 5.972 × 1024 kg |
| Volume | 6.833 × 1013 km3 | 1,083,000,000,000 km3 |
| Closest Distance to Sun | 2,749,000,000 km | 147,100,000 km |
| Furthest Distance from Sun | 3,004,000,000 km | 152,100,000 km |
| Average Orbital Speed | 24,520 kph | 107,200 kph |
Cool Facts About Uranus for Kids
Uranus has only been visited by one spacecraft.
NASA's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus. On 24 January 1986, the spacecraft—which had been launched about 8 years earlier, having already visited Jupiter and Saturn— passed within about 81,500 km of the clouds on Uranus' surface. Voyager 2 then continued on to visit Neptune some 2 years later.
Uranus orbits the sun on its side.
With the exception of Venus, all the solar system planets rotate on their axes from west to east. Although they are all slightly tilted, Uranus is tilted to such an extreme degree that it's effectively rotating on its side.
