Fast Facts on the Planet Uranus History Size Atmosphere and More

About the planet Uranus, fast facts including history, size, atmosphere and more.

URANUS

Uranus, the 1st planet to be beyond normal eyesight, was discovered by accident. William Herschel, in 1781, thought that he had discovered a comet. Within a few months it was realized that a new planet had been found. Until 1850, it was named Georgian, after George III, King of England.

Uranus is very unusual in that its axis of rotation is nearly parallel to the plane of its orbit. At certain times the sun is almost directly over its north pole, but the extent of warming done by the sun is affected by the fact that Uranus is 19 times farther from the sun than the earth is.