Uranus' rings-Extra Credit

The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink. Over 200 years ago, William Herschel also claimed to have observed these rings, although current astronomers are unsure that he could actually have noticed them, as they are very dark and faint. Two additional rings were discovered in 1986 in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, and two outer rings were found in 2003–2005 in Hubble Space Telescope^[update] photos. By 2008 the Uranian ring system is known to consist of 13 rings. The rings are extremely dark. The rings are most likely composed of water ice. They are only a few kilometers wide. The rings are thought to be relatively young, no more than 600 million years old. The ring system probably originated from the collisional fragmentation of a number of moons that once existed around the planet. After colliding, the moons likely broke up into numerous particles, which survived as narrow and dense rings.

Name Origin of Uranus-Extra Credit

William Herschel originally called Uranus "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George III of England. The name "Uranus" was first thought of by a German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in order for it to work with the other planetary names - which came from Greek mythology. Bode determined the orbit of Uranus and suggested the planet's name. Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. This name was not in use until 1850.

Fun Facts for Uranus-Extra Credit

In mythology, Uranus was the lord of the skies and husband of Earth. He was also the king of the gods until his son Saturn overthrew him. Uranus is four times bigger than Earth. Therefore you would way more on Uranus. If you weigh 70 pounds on the Earth you would weigh 82 pounds on Uranus.
Unlike all the other planets and most of the moons in our Solar System Uranus spins on its side. It is believed that long ago a very large object smashed into this planet. The crash was so powerful that it completely changed the direction of Uranus' spin. Uranus may have an ocean of water beneath its clouds. It has a large rocky core, and because of the tremendous pressure could possibly contain trillions of large diamonds. Uranus is almost identical to the planet Neptune. Moons: Uranus has 27 moons. Five of these moons are large, and the rest are smaller. Their names are: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, Stephano, and 1986U10.

The distance between Uranus and Sun is almost twice the distance from Sun to Saturn. Uranus has a pale blue color, which is caused by the methane in its atmosphere which leaks out red light. Uranus orbits the Sun on its side. Its South Pole is pointed towards Earth. The angle of the tilt of its axis is 98 degrees. Like all Jovian planets, Uranus also has rings. The rings are made of ice and small rock particles, which are so faint that they appear as black as charcoal. Uranus rotates from east to west, like Venus. This is opposite from the spin of Earth.Uranus has 21 moons. Five of these moons are large, while the rest are smaller. Uranus' moons orbit the planet just like a Giant Wheel in a fair. A day on Uranus is shorter than a day on Earth, at about 17 hours long. Uranus is the only planet with a unique tilt of 98 degrees. Its seasons are extreme. When the Sun rises at its north pole, it stays up for 42 Earth years and then when it sets, the North Pole is in darkness for the next 42 Earth years.The atmospheric composition of Uranus comprises of hydrogen, helium, and methane.The force of gravity at the surface of Uranus is about 90 percent of that at the surface of Earth. An object that weighs 100 pounds on Earth would weigh about 90 pounds on Uranus.

Kuiper Belt Extra-Credit

The Kuiper belt often called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a section of the Solar System. It consists mainly of small bodies and remains from the Solar System's formation. The Kuiper belt is composed mostly of frozen ices such as methane, ammonia, and water.

In 1987, astronomer David Jewitt worked with Jane Luu on the discovery of the Kuiper Belt. They used telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. After five years of searching, on August 30, 1992, Jewitt and Luu declared the "Discovery of the candidate Kuiper belt object."

The Kuiper belt stretches from roughly 30 to 55 AU. composed of ices; a mixture of light hydrocarbons (such as methane), ammonia, and water ice. The temperature on the Kuiper Belt is on average 50K.

Life on Uranus

The possibility of life on Uranus is extremely slim. It is too cold for life its average temperature is –214°C. Uranus is a giant ball of gas and liquid. The surface of Uranus consists of blue-green clouds composed of tiny crystals of methane. Far below these observable clouds are most likely thicker cloud layers made up of liquid water and crystals of ammonia ice. Deeper yet -- about 4,700 miles (7,500 kilometers) below the visible cloud tops maybe an ocean of liquid water containing dissolved ammonia. Uranus has a strong magnetic field. The magnetic field has trapped high-energy, electrically charged particles -- mainly electrons and protons. Uranus does not have an Oxygen atmosphere. The atmosphere of Uranus is made up of about 83 percent hydrogen, 15 percent helium, 2 percent methane, and small
amounts of ethane and other gases. I highly doubt Uranus has any form of life.




In our Solar System it is questioned if microbial life survives on Enceladus. Enceladus is one of Saturn's innermost moons. Scientists have found seas beneath Enceladus's surface. "Enceladus has warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life," said Dennis Matson. Other scientists believe they have yet to find liquid water (whose existance is questioned) before they can truly believe life exists on Enceladus. I personally think there may possibly be life on Enceladus. Some organisms can bare the freezing temperature of -214 degrees Celsius. Although there is believed to be heat in the core of Enceladus. Enceladus has its own magnetic field which protects it from objects hitting into it. Satellites have found essential elements needed for life, but have yet to find more.

Distance

Space is measured in all three measures: kilometers, Astronomical Units and light years. The difference between km, Au, Ly is that km are a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters, where as an Astronomical Unit is the distance between the sun and the earth in comparison a light year is the distance light travels in one year. Kilometer's are often used to measure a planet's diameter. Astronomical Units are used to measure the distance between planets. One Au is 150 km. Light years are used to measure distances in space. A Light year travels at 186,ooo mi/sec. One light year advances at 9,458,000,000,000 km = 6,000,000,000,000 miles.

The closest Uranus can get to Earth is 2.57 billion km. When these planets are at their most distant point they are 3.15 billion km away from each other. Depending on where Uranus and Earth are in their orbits it took voyager two 9.5 years to reach Uranus from Earth. A human being has never and will never get to Uranus. It took voyager two 9.5 years to reach Uranus; humans would not have enough food to last that long a span of time.