Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is known for its distinctive blue-green coloration and its unusual orientation, with its rotational axis tilted at an angle of about 98 degrees relative to its orbit around the Sun. It is located about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) from the Sun and orbits it once every 84 Earth years.
Uranus is an ice giant planet, with a thick atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Its blue-green color is due to the absorption of red light by methane in the upper atmosphere. Uranus also has a set of dark rings, which were first discovered in 1977, and a complex system of moons.
One of the most unusual features of Uranus is its extreme tilt, which means that its poles are almost in the plane of its orbit. This causes Uranus to experience very long periods of daylight and darkness at its poles, and also causes dramatic seasonal changes as the planet orbits the Sun.
Uranus has been visited by only one spacecraft, NASA's Voyager 2, which flew by the planet in 1986 and provided detailed data on its atmosphere, rings, and moons. The data from the Voyager 2 flyby revealed that Uranus has a surprisingly complex and dynamic system of weather patterns, with large storms and winds reaching speeds of up to 560 miles per hour (900 kilometers per hour).
Despite its relative lack of exploration, Uranus remains a fascinating subject of study for astronomers and planetary scientists, with ongoing research aimed at better understanding its unique features and the role it has played in the evolution of our solar system.
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