Your Age on Planet Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is the third largest planet in the Solar System on the basis of diameter and the fourth largest on the basis of mass. It is 14.5 times heavier than Earth in mass and 63 times larger than Earth in size. On average, it is much less dense than Earth - because Earth has a higher percentage of stones and other heavy materials, while Uranus has more gas. That is why even after having a size of sixty three times bigger than the earth, it is only fourteen and a half times heavier than the earth. Although Uranus can be seen without a telescope, it is so far away and appears to be of such a medium of light that ancient scholars never gave it the status of a planet and considered it a distant twinkling star.

This planet was first observed by John Flamsteed in 1690. This English astronomer assumed that it was a star in the constellation Taurus and called his discovery "34 Tauri". Around 1769, Uranus was observed a total of 12 times by Pierre Lemonnier, but this astronomer also believed he saw a star. The official discovery is made by William Herschel, who qualified the object as a planet on March 13, 1781. He named the planet "Georgium Sidus", after the English king George III. Another name that was used at that time was "Herschel". It was not until 1850 that the name Uranus, previously proposed by Johann Bode, was officially taken into use.

Uranus is roughly 20 AU from the Sun, orbiting it over a period of about 84 years. Pierre-Simon Laplace was the first to calculate the orbital elements of Uranus, and presented the results in 1783. Subsequent deviations from these predictions were interpreted as indicating that there may be another undiscovered planet whose gravity would cause these deviations. Indeed, in 1846 an eighth planet, Neptune, was discovered near the location calculated from Uranus' orbital anomalies.

Uranus rotates on its axis in 17 hours and 14 minutes. Because of the very strong winds in the upper layers of Uranus' atmosphere, that part of the atmosphere can complete a rotation in about 14 hours.

A notable feature of Uranus is its equator, which is at an angle of 98° to the planet's orbital plane. This is called the obliquity of the planet. In comparison, the Earth has an obliquity of 23.45°. One possible explanation for the fact that Uranus "lies on its side" is that it once collided with another large celestial body several times larger than Earth. This could also explain the large number of moons around this planet and their typical position, as well as the rings. Other explanations assume two or more minor collisions or no collision at all. Another possible explanation for the great obliquity of the planet Uranus is that it results from the gravitational forces that its giant neighbors (Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune) and Uranus itself exert on each other.

Together with Neptune, Uranus is very similar to the core of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. The major difference with these planets is the absence of a surrounding mantle of metallic hydrogen. The core probably consists of nickel iron and silicates, surrounded by a mantle of water, methane, ammonia and probably some loose elements. On the outside is a layer of liquid hydrogen, helium and methane, which become more and more gaseous towards the surface. Despite the absence of metallic hydrogen around the core, Uranus does have a magnetic field. Uranus's magnetic field is formed by the presence of highly conductive particles deep within the planet's liquid mantle.

The cyan to blue color characteristic of Uranus is caused by the atmosphere that contains a relatively large amount of methane (2.3%). That absorbs red and orange wavelengths from sunlight but it reflects blue and green. Clouds are practically not observed in the atmosphere. Cloud formations only occur on parts around the equator in the sun. In the higher layers of the atmosphere, storms occur with wind speeds of up to 720 km/h. The atmosphere of Uranus is very similar to that of the other ice giant Neptune.

Uranus's climate is strongly influenced by its lack of heat and by its tilted axis, which means that the seasons vary much more than, for example, on Earth.

The magnetic field has an angle of approximately 60° relative to the axis of rotation. This magnetic field is thought to be caused by moving bodies of water ice deep below the surface. The magnetic field of Uranus has been severely disrupted because the ice allows heat radiation to pass through, generating various magnetic fields.

Uranus has 27 known natural satellites, many of which are named after characters by William Shakespeare and from Alexander Pope's poem The Rape of the Lock.

To date, only one spacecraft has approached the planet "Voyager 2", launched in 1977, passed the planet on January 24, 1986 at a distance of approximately 9.1 million km. It discovered 2 new and some incomplete rings of Uranus. Some new moons were also discovered, such as Cordelia and Ophelia. During this mission, the probe sent pictures of the planet and rings to Earth and then traveled on to Neptune.

The Hubble Space Telescope has also made important discoveries about Uranus. For example, in 2005 a second set of rings was found. The rings of Uranus are dark and thin, and they are made of dark rocky matter. Part of it was probably formed by a meteor impact.

Do you want to know what would be your age if you were born on Uranus? So just select your birthdate in the above form and click on the calculate button and this tool will calculate and tell you how many revolutions Uranus has made on the Sun and its axis since your birthday. That is, how old are you on Uranus in years, months and days, along with this this calculator will also give the date of your next birthday on Uranus.

Uranus orbit around the Sun takes 30,688.5 Earth days. For easy understanding we have written some years in the table below and it has been converted to how many years on Uranus if you are x years old on Earth.