Mary Rojas-Bueno
11/15/2017
Astr101
Uranus
There are many planets out there in the vast expanse of space. There are eight planets in our solar system, barring pluto which is a dwarf planet and not an actual planet. I will be discussing the seventh planet of our solar system, the lovely ice giant Uranus.
The first ever sighting of Uranus was in 1680 by John Flamsteed, he categorized it as 34 Tauri, he thought it to be a star or comet. It wasn't until William Herschel and John Elert Bode discovered it to be a planet on March 13, 1781. Herschel tried to name it Georgium sidus after king george the third, it was Bode who suggested the name Uranus, named after the primal Greek god of the sky Ouranos.
Some of the characteristics of Uranus; With …show more content…
As an ice giant, uranus is made up of more ice than gas. Uranus has a much different composition than saturn or jupiter even though they are all gas giants. Jupiter and Saturn are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, while uranus is composed of ices like water, ammonia and methane. Astronomers think that between 9.3 and 13.5 earth masses of Uranus mass is made up of these ices. Hydrogen and Helium only account for about 0.5 to 1.5 earth masses(Cain). Most planets have a rocky molten core, but unlike most uranus is thought to have a core made up of icy materials. The liquid core makes up 80% of the mass of the planet, and is mostly comprised of water, methane, and ammonia.
Uranus' atmosphere is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, these gases dominate only the outer edges of the planet, and are not a significant contributor to the rocky interior. Uranus atmospheric composition is made up of 82.5% of molecular hydrogen, 15.2% of helium and 2.3% of …show more content…
Like the other gas giants,Uranus doesn't have a firm surface. Scientists define the surface as the region where the atmospheric pressure exceeds one bar, the pressure found on Earth at sea level. Just above the "surface", since Uranus is a gas giant, of Uranus lies the troposphere. The temperature ranges from minus 243 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 153 degrees Celsius) to minus 370 F (minus 218 C), with the upper regions being the coldest. With temperatures like those it makes the atmosphere of Uranus one of the coldest in the solar system. Within the troposphere are layers of cloud;water clouds at the lowest pressures, with ammonium hydrosulfide clouds above them. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide clouds come next. Finally, thin methane clouds lay on the top. The troposphere extends 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the surface of the planet(Taylor,"Uranus'). The planet is mostly made up of swirling fluids. A spacecraft would have nowhere to land on Uranus, but it also wouldn't be able to fly through its atmosphere unscathed either. The extreme pressures and temperatures would destroy a metal spacecraft.
According to space researchers Mona Delitsky, from California Specialty Engineering and Kevin Baines from the University of Wisconsin, the temperature at Uranus’ core could be 5,727 degrees Celsius (10,340 degrees Fahrenheit), this temperature could most likely produce diamonds
11/15/2017
Astr101
Uranus
There are many planets out there in the vast expanse of space. There are eight planets in our solar system, barring pluto which is a dwarf planet and not an actual planet. I will be discussing the seventh planet of our solar system, the lovely ice giant Uranus.
The first ever sighting of Uranus was in 1680 by John Flamsteed, he categorized it as 34 Tauri, he thought it to be a star or comet. It wasn't until William Herschel and John Elert Bode discovered it to be a planet on March 13, 1781. Herschel tried to name it Georgium sidus after king george the third, it was Bode who suggested the name Uranus, named after the primal Greek god of the sky Ouranos.
Some of the characteristics of Uranus; With …show more content…
As an ice giant, uranus is made up of more ice than gas. Uranus has a much different composition than saturn or jupiter even though they are all gas giants. Jupiter and Saturn are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, while uranus is composed of ices like water, ammonia and methane. Astronomers think that between 9.3 and 13.5 earth masses of Uranus mass is made up of these ices. Hydrogen and Helium only account for about 0.5 to 1.5 earth masses(Cain). Most planets have a rocky molten core, but unlike most uranus is thought to have a core made up of icy materials. The liquid core makes up 80% of the mass of the planet, and is mostly comprised of water, methane, and ammonia.
Uranus' atmosphere is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, these gases dominate only the outer edges of the planet, and are not a significant contributor to the rocky interior. Uranus atmospheric composition is made up of 82.5% of molecular hydrogen, 15.2% of helium and 2.3% of …show more content…
Like the other gas giants,Uranus doesn't have a firm surface. Scientists define the surface as the region where the atmospheric pressure exceeds one bar, the pressure found on Earth at sea level. Just above the "surface", since Uranus is a gas giant, of Uranus lies the troposphere. The temperature ranges from minus 243 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 153 degrees Celsius) to minus 370 F (minus 218 C), with the upper regions being the coldest. With temperatures like those it makes the atmosphere of Uranus one of the coldest in the solar system. Within the troposphere are layers of cloud;water clouds at the lowest pressures, with ammonium hydrosulfide clouds above them. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide clouds come next. Finally, thin methane clouds lay on the top. The troposphere extends 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the surface of the planet(Taylor,"Uranus'). The planet is mostly made up of swirling fluids. A spacecraft would have nowhere to land on Uranus, but it also wouldn't be able to fly through its atmosphere unscathed either. The extreme pressures and temperatures would destroy a metal spacecraft.
According to space researchers Mona Delitsky, from California Specialty Engineering and Kevin Baines from the University of Wisconsin, the temperature at Uranus’ core could be 5,727 degrees Celsius (10,340 degrees Fahrenheit), this temperature could most likely produce diamonds