A report on Uranus

Photograph of Uranus in true colour (by Voyager 2 in 1986)
Photograph of Uranus in true colour (by Voyager 2 in 1986)
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Simulated Earth view of Uranus from 1986 to 2030, from southern summer solstice in 1986 to equinox in 2007 and northern summer solstice in 2028.
Size comparison of Earth and Uranus
Diagram of the interior of Uranus
Uranus's atmosphere taken during the Outer Planet Atmosphere Legacy (OPAL) program.
Aurorae on Uranus taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) installed on Hubble.
The magnetic field of Uranus (animated; 25 March 2020)
The first dark spot observed on Uranus. Image obtained by the HST ACS in 2006.
Uranus in 2005. Rings, southern collar and a bright cloud in the northern hemisphere are visible (HST ACS image).
Major moons of Uranus in order of increasing distance (left to right), at their proper relative sizes and albedos (collage of Voyager 2 photographs)
Uranus's aurorae against its equatorial rings, imaged by the Hubble telescope. Unlike the aurorae of Earth and Jupiter, those of Uranus are not in line with its poles, due to its lopsided magnetic field.
Crescent Uranus as imaged by Voyager 2 while en route to Neptune

Seventh planet from the Sun.

- Uranus
Photograph of Uranus in true colour (by Voyager 2 in 1986)

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Overall
Photograph taken by NASA's Voyager 2 in 1989

Neptune

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Eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known solar planet.

Eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known solar planet.

Photograph taken by NASA's Voyager 2 in 1989
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Galileo Galilei
Urbain Le Verrier
A size comparison of Neptune and Earth
Combined colour and near-infrared image of Neptune, showing bands of methane in its atmosphere, and four of its moons, Proteus, Larissa, Galatea, and Despina
Bands of high-altitude clouds cast shadows on Neptune's lower cloud deck.
The Great Dark Spot (top), Scooter (middle white cloud), and the Small Dark Spot (bottom), with contrast exaggerated.
Four images taken a few hours apart with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3
Neptune (red arc) completes one orbit around the Sun (centre) for every 164.79 orbits of Earth. The light blue object represents Uranus.
A diagram showing the major orbital resonances in the Kuiper belt caused by Neptune: the highlighted regions are the 2:3 resonance (plutinos), the nonresonant "classical belt" (cubewanos), and the 1:2 resonance (twotinos).
A simulation showing the outer planets and Kuiper belt: a) before Jupiter and Saturn reached a 2:1 resonance; b) after inward scattering of Kuiper belt objects following the orbital shift of Neptune; c) after ejection of scattered Kuiper belt bodies by Jupiter
Natural-colour view of Neptune with Proteus (top), Larissa (lower right), and Despina (left), from the Hubble Space Telescope
Neptune's moon Proteus
A composite Hubble image showing Hippocamp with other previously discovered inner moons in Neptune's ring system
Neptune's rings
In 2018, the European Southern Observatory developed unique laser-based methods to get clear and high-resolution images of Neptune from the surface of Earth.
A Voyager 2 mosaic of Triton
The appearance of a Northern Great Dark Spot in 2018 is evidence of a huge storm brewing.<ref>{{cite web |title=A storm is coming |url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1907a/ |website=spacetelescope.org |access-date=19 February 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220062857/https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1907a/ |archive-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Northern Great Dark Spot and a smaller companion storm imaged by Hubble in 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-59.html|title=Dark Storm on Neptune Reverses Direction, Possibly Shedding Fragment|author1=Michael H. Wong|author2=Amy Simon|publisher=Hubblesite|date=15 December 2020|access-date=25 December 2020|archive-date=25 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225153808/https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-59.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Great Dark Spot, as imaged by Voyager 2
Neptune's shrinking vortex<ref>{{cite web|title=Neptune's shrinking vortex|url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1808a/|website=spacetelescope.org|access-date=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219125043/http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1808a/|archive-date=19 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
Physical and chemical composition of Neptune's interior

It is 17 times the mass of Earth, and slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus.

Pictured in natural color approaching equinox, photographed by Cassini in July 2008; the dot in the bottom left corner is Titan

Saturn

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Sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter.

Sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter.

Pictured in natural color approaching equinox, photographed by Cassini in July 2008; the dot in the bottom left corner is Titan
The symbol for Saturn in late Classical (4th & 5th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) manuscripts, derives from (kappa-rho).
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Composite image comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth
Diagram of Saturn, to scale
Methane bands circle Saturn. The moon Dione hangs below the rings to the right.
A global storm girdles the planet in 2011. The storm passes around the planet, such that the storm's head (bright area) passes its tail.
Saturn and rings as viewed by the Cassini spacecraft (28 October 2016)
A montage of Saturn and its principal moons (Dione, Tethys, Mimas, Enceladus, Rhea and Titan; Iapetus not shown). This image was created from photographs taken in November 1980 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
Possible beginning of a new moon (white dot) of Saturn (image taken by Cassini on 15 April 2013)
Galileo Galilei observed the rings of Saturn in 1610, but was unable to determine what they were
Robert Hooke noted the shadows (a and b) cast by both the globe and the rings on each other in this drawing of Saturn in 1666.
Pioneer 11 image of Saturn
At Enceladus's south pole geysers spray water from many locations along the tiger stripes.
Amateur telescopic view of Saturn
Simulated appearance of Saturn as seen from Earth (at opposition) during an orbit of Saturn, 2001–2029
Saturn eclipses the Sun, as seen from Cassini. The rings are visible, including the F Ring.
orientation of its rings
HST Saturn portrait from 20 June 2019
Farewell to Saturn and moons (Enceladus, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Pandora and Prometheus), by Cassini (21 November 2017).

Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%: 60,268 km versus 54,364 km. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent.

Full disk view in natural colour, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2014

Jupiter

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Fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System.

Fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System.

Full disk view in natural colour, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2014
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Jupiter's diameter is one order of magnitude smaller (×0.10045) than that of the Sun, and one order of magnitude larger (×10.9733) than that of Earth. The Great Red Spot is roughly the same size as Earth.
Diagram of Jupiter, its interior, surface features, rings, and inner moons.
Time-lapse sequence from the approach of Voyager 1, showing the motion of atmospheric bands and circulation of the Great Red Spot. Recorded over 32 days with one photograph taken every 10 hours (once per Jovian day). See [[:File:Jupiter from Voyager 1 PIA02855 max quality.ogv|full size video]].
Close up of the Great Red Spot imaged by the Juno spacecraft in April 2018
The Great Red Spot is decreasing in size (May 15, 2014)
Jupiter (red) completes one orbit of the Sun (centre) for every 11.86 orbits by Earth (blue)
A rotation time-lapse of Jupiter over 3 hours
Model in the Almagest of the longitudinal motion of Jupiter (☉) relative to Earth (🜨)
Galileo Galilei, discoverer of the four largest moons of Jupiter, now known as Galilean moons
Infrared image of Jupiter taken by ESO's Very Large Telescope
Jupiter as seen by the space probe Cassini
A photograph of Jupiter taken by the Juno spacecraft, at the end of a close flyby (September 2018)
Jupiter, as seen by the Juno spacecraft (February 12, 2019)
The rings of Jupiter
Diagram showing the Trojan asteroids in Jupiter's orbit, as well as the main asteroid belt
Hubble image taken on July 23, 2009, showing a blemish about 5000 miles long left by the 2009 Jupiter impact event.
Jupiter, woodcut from a 1550 edition of Guido Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae
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Infrared view of Jupiter, imaged by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaiʻi on January 11, 2017
Jupiter imaged in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope on January 11, 2017
Ultraviolet view of Jupiter, imaged by Hubble on January 11, 2017<ref>{{cite web|title=By Jove! Jupiter Shows Its Stripes and Colors|publisher=National Science Foundation|website=NOIRLab|date=May 11, 2021|url=https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2116/|access-date=June 17, 2021}}</ref>
This image of Jupiter and Europa, taken by Hubble on 25 August 2020, was captured when the planet was 653 million kilometres from Earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hubble Finds Evidence of Persistent Water Vapour Atmosphere on Europa|website=ESA Hubble|publisher=European Space Agency|date=October 14, 2021|url=https://esahubble.org/news/heic2111/|access-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref>
Jupiter with its moon Europa on the left. Earth's diameter is 11 times smaller than Jupiter, and 4 times larger than Europa.
Formation of Oval BA from three white ovals
Orbit of Jupiter and other outer Solar System planets
Jupiter and four Galilean moons seen through an amateur telescope
Galileo's original observation note of Jupiter moons
Jupiter viewed in infrared by JWST (July 14, 2022)
Image of Jupiter and its radiation belts in radio
Galileo in preparation for mating with the rocket, 2000
Juno preparing for testing in a rotation stand, 2011
Brown spots mark Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's impact sites on Jupiter

Based on spectroscopy, Saturn is thought to be similar in composition to Jupiter, but the other giant planets Uranus and Neptune have relatively less hydrogen and helium and relatively more of the next most common elements, including oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

These cut-aways illustrate interior models of the giant planets. The planetary cores of gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, whereas the mantles of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are composed of heavier elements.

Ice giant

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Giant planet composed mainly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

Giant planet composed mainly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

These cut-aways illustrate interior models of the giant planets. The planetary cores of gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, whereas the mantles of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are composed of heavier elements.

There are two ice giants in the Solar System: Uranus and Neptune.

Voyager 2

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Space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere.

Space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere.

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Animation of Voyager 2s trajectory around Jupiter ·····
The trajectory of Voyager 2 through the Jovian system
Voyager 2 left the heliosphere on November 5, 2018.
Voyager 1 and 2 speed and distance from Sun
On Voyager 2, both PWS and PRS have remained active, whereas on Voyager 1 the PRS has been off since 2007
NASA map showing trajectories of the Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2 spacecraft.
The current position of Voyager 2 as of December 2018. Note the vast distances condensed into an exponential scale: Earth is one astronomical unit (AU) from the Sun; Saturn is at 10 AU, and the heliopause is at around 120 AU. Neptune is 30.1 AU from the Sun; thus the edge of interstellar space is around four times as far from the Sun as the last planet.
Voyager Golden Record
RTG inner heat source
RTG assembly
RTG unit
Voyager 2 launch on August 20, 1977, with a Titan IIIE/Centaur.
thumb|Animation of Voyager 2{{'s}} trajectory from August 20, 1977, to December 30, 2000
Trajectory of Voyager 2 primary mission.
Plot of Voyager 2{{'s}} heliocentric velocity against its distance from the Sun, illustrating the use of gravity assists to accelerate the spacecraft by Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. To observe Triton, Voyager 2 passed over Neptune's north pole, resulting in an acceleration out of the plane of the ecliptic, and, as a result, a reduced velocity relative to the Sun.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/bsf4-1.php |title=Basics of space flight: Interplanetary Trajectories}}</ref>

A part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, Voyager 1, on a trajectory that took longer to reach gas giants Jupiter and Saturn but enabled further encounters with ice giants Uranus and Neptune.

1785 portrait by Lemuel Francis Abbott

William Herschel

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German-born British astronomer and composer.

German-born British astronomer and composer.

1785 portrait by Lemuel Francis Abbott
Original manuscript of Symphony No. 15 in E-flat major (1762)
Replica in the William Herschel Museum, Bath, of a telescope similar to that with which Herschel discovered Uranus
Herschel's mirror polisher, on display in the Science Museum, London
Uranus, discovered by Herschel in 1781
NGC 2683 is an unbarred spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel on 5 February 1788
William and Caroline Herschel polishing a telescope lens (probably a mirror); 1896 lithograph
The 40-foot (12 m) telescope
A Cassini orbiter's view of Mimas, a moon of Saturn discovered by Herschel in 1789.
William Herschel's model of the Milky Way, 1785
William Herschel's coat of arms deemed a notorious example of debased heraldry: Argent, on a mount vert a representation of the 40 ft. reflecting telescope with its apparatus proper on a chief azure the astronomical symbol of Uranus irradiated or. Crest: A demi terrestrial sphere proper thereon an eagle, wings elevated or
William Herschel, portrait by James Sharples, c. 1805
Uranus, discovered by Herschel in 1781

This would, after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus.

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Sun

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Star at the center of the Solar System.

Star at the center of the Solar System.

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Illustration of the Sun's structure, in false color for contrast
Illustration of a proton-proton reaction chain, from hydrogen forming deuterium, helium-3, and regular helium-4.
Illustration of different stars's internal structure, the Sun in the middle has an inner radiating zone and an outer convective zone.
High-resolution image of the Sun's surface taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)
During a total solar eclipse, the solar corona can be seen with the naked eye, during the brief period of totality.
The Sun's transition region taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope
Sunlight and glare seen overlooking from the International Space Station
Once outside the Sun's surface, neutrinos and photons travel at the speed of light
Visible light photograph of sunspot
Measurements from 2005 of solar cycle variation during the previous 30 years
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The size of the current Sun (now in the main sequence) compared to its estimated size during its red-giant phase in the future
The Solar System, with sizes of the Sun and planets to scale. The terrestrial planets are on the right, the gas and ice giants are on the left.
The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is a sculpture believed to be illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology.
Sol, the Sun, from a 1550 edition of Guido Bonatti's Liber astronomiae.
False-color image taken in 2010 as seen in 30.4-nanometer ultraviolet light wavelength
A false-color of a coronal hole on the Sun forming a question mark (22 December 2017)
A false-color solar prominence erupts in August 2012, as captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Sun seen from Earth, with glare from the lenses. The eye also see glare when looked towards the Sun directly.
Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament by ancient Shu people. The center is a sun pattern with twelve points around which four birds fly in the same counterclockwise direction, Shang dynasty

This includes four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), two gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn), and two ice giants (Uranus and Neptune).

The Solar System's four giant planets against the Sun, to scale

Giant planet

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The giant planets constitute a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth.

The giant planets constitute a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth.

The Solar System's four giant planets against the Sun, to scale
Relative masses of the giant planets of the outer Solar System
These cut-aways illustrate interior models of the giant planets. Jupiter is shown with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen.
Saturn's north polar vortex
An artist's conception of 79 Ceti b, the first extrasolar giant planet found with a minimum mass less than Saturn.
Comparison of sizes of planets of a given mass with different compositions

There are four known giant planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The scheme of Uranus's ring-moon system. Solid lines denote rings; dashed lines denote orbits of moons.

Rings of Uranus

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The rings of Uranus are intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune.

The rings of Uranus are intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune.

The scheme of Uranus's ring-moon system. Solid lines denote rings; dashed lines denote orbits of moons.
Uranus's inner rings. The bright outer ring is the epsilon ring; eight other rings are visible.
A close-up view of the ε ring of Uranus
A close-up view of the (from top to bottom) δ, γ, η, β and α rings of Uranus. The resolved η ring demonstrates the optically thin broad component.
Comparison of the Uranian rings in forward-scattered and back-scattered light (images obtained by Voyager 2 in 1986)
A long-exposure, high phase angle (172.5°) Voyager 2 image of Uranus's inner rings. In forward-scattered light, dust bands not visible in other images can be seen, as well as the recognized rings.
The discovery image of the 1986U2R ring
The μ and ν rings of Uranus (R/2003 U1 and U2) in Hubble Space Telescope images from 2005
An enhanced-color schematic of the inner rings derived from Voyager 2 images

The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Jessica Mink.

Voyager 2 image of Titania's southern hemisphere

Titania (moon)

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Largest of the moons of Uranus and the eighth largest moon in the Solar System at a diameter of 1578 km. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it is named after the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Largest of the moons of Uranus and the eighth largest moon in the Solar System at a diameter of 1578 km. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it is named after the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Voyager 2 image of Titania's southern hemisphere
Size comparison of Earth, the Moon, and Titania.
Voyager 2's highest-resolution image of Titania shows moderately cratered plains, enormous rifts and long scarps. Near the bottom, a region of smoother plains including the crater Ursula is split by the graben Belmont Chasma.
Titania with surface features labeled. The south pole is situated close to the unidentified bright crater below and left of the crater Jessica.
Messina Chasma—a large canyon on Titania

Its orbit lies inside Uranus's magnetosphere.