Uranus

Uranus is a planet in the solar system and is the 7th closest planet to the sun. The distance from the Sun to Uranus is over 1,780 million miles.

Uranus is one of the four planets in the solar system that is a gas planet.

These gas planets are called ‘Jovian Planets’ Uranus is made up of layers and layers of gas, and has many rings and moons that orbit around the planet.

Uranus is the 3rd largest planet in the solar system.

Uranus was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in the 18th century in 1781, and is the first planet to be discovered in the modern age. The average temperature on Uranus is around -350 degrees, which makes the planet the 2nd coldest planet in the solar system.

It takes Uranus 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun. 1 day on Uranus lasts for about 17 hours, compared to Earths 24 hours.

The tilt of the planets axis is at a strange 98 degrees which is very different from all of the other planets in the solar system.

Kids Fun Facts Corner

# 1. The seasons on Uranus last 20 years each.

# 2. Uranus has a very large and rocky core at its center.

# 3. Uranus has 27 moons in total.

# 4. Uranus 13 rings.

# 5. Uranus is very Blue in color due to large amounts of methane gas its contains.

Q&A Corner

Q. What is the distance from the sun to Uranus?

Q. Who discovered Uranus and when?

Q. How many Earth years does it take for Uranus to orbit the sun?

Download questions about Uranus here: Uranus (answers are on this page)

Teacher. For more in depth work sheets on Uranus. Click on Kidskonnect Worksheets

For further reading and more information on Uranus visit http://www.planetsforkids.org