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Uranus: Overview
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Color image of Uranus with small moon in front of it.
Uranus' moon Ariel (white dot) and its shadow (black dot) were caught crossing the face of Uranus in this Hubble Space Telescope image.

Uranus is the only giant planet whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit. A collision with an Earth-sized object may explain Uranus' unique tilt. Nearly a twin in size to Neptune, Uranus has more methane in its mainly hydrogen and helium atmosphere than Jupiter or Saturn. Methane gives Uranus its blue tint.

Featured Mission: Voyager 2
Most of what we know about Uranus came from Voyager 2's flyby in 1986. The spacecraft discovered 10 additional moons and several rings before heading on to Neptune.

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Just the Facts
Orbit Size (semi-major axis):  2,870,658,186 km
Mean Radius:  25,362 km
Volume:  68,334,355,695,584 km3
Mass:  86,810,300,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg
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Mark Hofstadter Mark Hofstadter
"To me, being a scientist means seeing something in nature and wanting to figure out how it works or why it is the way it is." Read More...
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Last Updated: 14 Dec 2012