Uranus

Below are a whole string of pictures of Uranus' ring system. The planet only has 11 rings encircling it and because Uranus rotates on it's side the rings follow suit. This gives the impression that the rings surround it like an aura instead of going around it's centre like Saturn's do.

Above - 'Artists Depiction'

Uranus

• Uranus was discovered in 1846 by Sir William Herschel.
• Also has rings but only encircling the planet, standing on edge.
• The rings of Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus were all discovered after 1977.
• Like Jupiter it also has no solid surface, it too is made up of thick gases, again Hydrogen and Helium. Uranus' upper atmosphere is largely composed of Methane which is what gives it it's blue-green colour.
• Uranus also has a solid inner core.
• It has 17 named, major moons. Ten of them were discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986.
• It was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope. First sighted in 1781.
• Uranus, unlike the other planets, rotates on it's side.
• As Uranus orbits one side faces the sun for 42 years then the other for 42 years. That means that each half of the planet has daylight for 42 years while the otherhalf is completely dark. Similar to what the Innuit people close to the arctic circle on Earth experience, 6 months of daylight and 6 months of darkness.
• Uranus was the first planet discovered in modern times (1781).
• It is named for the grandfather of the Roman God Jupiter, father to Saturn but was almost named after it's discoverer William Herschel.
• It takes Uranus 84 years to orbit the sun!