Uranus is one of the outer planets of the solar system. It was discovered on March the 13th, 1781, by Sir William Herschel, who also detected, on January the 11th, 1787, two of the Uranian satellites, Oberon and Titania. The mean distance of the planet from the sun is 1,782,000,000 miles, its period of revolution round the sun 84 years, its diameter 31,700 m., and though sixty-four times as big as the earth it is only fifteen times as heavy. Its period of rotation on its own axis is uncertain. Certain markings on its disk caused Brenner in 1896 to deduce a period of 8 hours 27 mins. Other estimates make the period approximately ten hours. Two further satellites have been discovered, Ariel and Umbriel, both by Lassell in 1851. The satellites are remarkable for revolving in a plane nearly at right angles to the orbit of the planet, and for having a retrograde motion. The spectrum of the planet indicates that the atmosphere contains a quantity of free hydrogen, and it is probable that the planet is still at a high temperature. Due to the irregularities in the orbit of Uranus, the remarkable mathematical and consequent telescopic discovery of Neptune was made. Research Uranus
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Research Uranus