Exploration Of Uranus
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Exploration Of Uranus
The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA's ''Voyager 2'' spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. ''Voyager 2'' discovered 10 moons, studied the planet's cold atmosphere, and examined its ring system, discovering two new rings. It also imaged Uranus' five large moons, revealing that their surfaces are covered with impact craters and canyons. A number of dedicated exploratory missions to Uranus have been proposed, but none have been approved. ''Voyager 2'' ''Voyager 2'' made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986, coming within of the planet's cloud tops. This was the probe's first solo planetary flyby, since ''Voyager 1'' ended its tour of the outer planets at Saturn's moon Titan. Uranus is the third-largest planet in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about and completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by ''Voyager 2'' is ...
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Uranus Final Image
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronus (Saturn). It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" to distinguish them from the other giant planets. As with gas giants, ice giants also lack a well defined "solid surface." Uranus's atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it contains more " ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of other hydrocarbons. It has the coldest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System, with a m ...
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Magnetotail
In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo. In the space environment close to a planetary body, the magnetic field resembles a magnetic dipole. Farther out, field lines can be significantly distorted by the flow of electrically conducting plasma, as emitted from the Sun (i.e., the solar wind) or a nearby star. Planets having active magnetospheres, like the Earth, are capable of mitigating or blocking the effects of solar radiation or cosmic radiation, that also protects all living organisms from potentially detrimental and dangerous consequences. This is studied under the specialized scientific subjects of plasma physics, space physics and aeronomy. History Study of Earth's magnetosphere began in 1600, when William Gilbert discovered that the magnetic field on the surface of E ...
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Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists broadly study the properties and processes of E ...
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Titania (moon)
Titania (), also designated Uranus III, is the largest of the moons of Uranus and the List of natural satellites by diameter, eighth largest moon in the Solar System at a diameter of . Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it is named after the Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream), queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Its orbit lies inside Uranus's magnetosphere. Titania consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock (geology), rock, and is probably differentiated into a rocky core (geology), core and an icy mantle (geology), mantle. A layer of liquid water may be present at the core–mantle boundary. Its surface, which is relatively dark and slightly red in color, appears to have been shaped by both impacts and endogenic processes. It is covered with numerous impact craters reaching up to in diameter, but is less heavily cratered than Oberon (moon), Oberon, outermost of the five large moons of Uranus. It may have undergone an early end ...
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Satellites Of Saturn
The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets only tens of meters across to enormous Titan (moon), Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury. Saturn has 83 natural satellite, moons with confirmed orbits that are not embedded in its Rings of Saturn, rings—of which only 13 have diameters greater than 50 kilometers—as well as dense rings that contain millions of embedded moonlets and innumerable smaller ring particles. Seven Saturnian moons are large enough to have collapsed into a relaxed, ellipsoidal shape, though only one or two of those, Titan and possibly Rhea (moon), Rhea, are currently in hydrostatic equilibrium. Particularly notable among Saturn's moons are Titan, the second-List of natural satellites, largest moon in the Solar System (after Jupiter's Ganymede (moon), Ganymede), with a Atmosphere of Titan#Composition, nitrogen-rich Earth-like Atmosphere of Titan, atmosphere and a landscape featuring dry river networks and ...
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Rock (geology)
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy. It may be limited to rocks found on Earth, or it may include planetary geology that studies the rocks of other celestial objects. Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools in the Earth's crust, or lava cools on the ground surface or the seabed. Sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis and lithification of sediments, which in turn are formed by the weathering, transport, and deposition of existing ro ...
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Miranda (moon)
Miranda, also designated Uranus V, is the smallest and innermost of Uranus's five round satellites. It was discovered by Gerard Kuiper on 16 February 1948 at McDonald Observatory in Texas, and named after Miranda from William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. Like the other large moons of Uranus, Miranda orbits close to its planet's equatorial plane. Because Uranus orbits the Sun on its side, Miranda's orbit is perpendicular to the ecliptic and shares Uranus' extreme seasonal cycle. At just 470 km in diameter, Miranda is one of the smallest closely observed objects in the Solar System that might be in hydrostatic equilibrium (spherical under its own gravity). The only close-up images of Miranda are from the ''Voyager 2'' probe, which made observations of Miranda during its Uranus flyby in January 1986. During the flyby, Miranda's southern hemisphere pointed towards the Sun, so only that part was studied. Miranda probably formed from an accretion disc that surround ...
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Temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied on various reference points and thermometric substances for definition. The most common scales are the Celsius scale with the unit symbol °C (formerly called ''centigrade''), the Fahrenheit scale (°F), and the Kelvin scale (K), the latter being used predominantly for scientific purposes. The kelvin is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI). Absolute zero, i.e., zero kelvin or −273.15 °C, is the lowest point in the thermodynamic temperature scale. Experimentally, it can be approached very closely but not actually reached, as recognized in the third law of thermodynamics. It would be impossible to extract energy as heat from a body at that temperature. Temperature is important in all fields of natur ...
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Ultraviolet Light
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30  PHz) to 400 nm (750  THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight, and constitutes about 10% of the total electromagnetic radiation output from the Sun. It is also produced by electric arcs and specialized lights, such as mercury-vapor lamps, tanning lamps, and black lights. Although long-wavelength ultraviolet is not considered an ionizing radiation because its photons lack the energy to ionize atoms, it can cause chemical reactions and causes many substances to glow or fluoresce. Consequently, the chemical and biological effects of UV are greater than simple heating effects, and many practical applications of UV radiation derive from its interactions with organic molecules. Short-wave ultraviolet light damages DNA and sterilizes surfaces with which it comes into contact. For h ...
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Poles Of Astronomical Bodies
The poles of astronomical bodies are determined based on their axis of rotation in relation to the celestial poles of the celestial sphere. Astronomical bodies include stars, planets, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and minor planets (e.g., asteroids), as well as natural satellites and minor-planet moons. Poles of rotation The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines the north pole of a planet or any of its satellites in the Solar System as the planetary pole that is in the same celestial hemisphere, relative to the invariable plane of the Solar System, as Earth's north pole. This definition is independent of the object's direction of rotation about its axis. This implies that an object's direction of rotation, when viewed from above its north pole, may be either clockwise or counterclockwise. The direction of rotation exhibited by most objects in the solar system (including Sun and Earth) is counterclockwise. Venus rotates clockwise, and Uranus h ...
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Uranian Rings PIA01977
Uranian may refer to: __NOTOC__ Sexuality *Uranian (sexology), a historical term for homosexual men *Uranians, a group of male homosexual poets Astronomy *Uranian, of or pertaining to the planet Uranus *Uranian system, refers to the 27 moons of Uranus Mythology and fiction *Uranian, relating to Aphrodite Urania, an epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite *Uranian, relating to Urania, the muse of astronomy *Uranian (comics), a fictional race in the Marvel Universe Other uses *Uranian Phalanstery, artist collectives in New York City *For ''Uranian astrology'' see Hamburg School of Astrology See also *Urania (other) *Uranus (other) Uranus is a planet in the Solar System. Uranus may also refer to: *Uranus (mythology), an ancient Greek sky god Fiction * ''Uranus'' (novel), a 1948 novel by Marcel Aymé *Uranus, a character in ''Duckman ''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man' ...
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Planetary Ring
A ring system is a disc or ring, orbiting an astronomical object, that is composed of solid material such as dust and moonlets, and is a common component of satellite systems around giant planets. A ring system around a planet is also known as a planetary ring system. The most prominent and most famous planetary rings in the Solar System are those around Saturn, but the other three giant planets (Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune) also have ring systems. Recent evidence suggests that ring systems may also be found around other types of astronomical objects, including minor planets, moons, and brown dwarfs, and as well, the interplanetary spaces between planets such as Venus and Mercury. Ring systems of planets There are three ways that thicker planetary rings have been proposed to have formed: from material of the protoplanetary disk that was within the Roche limit of the planet and thus could not coalesce to form moons, from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by a large i ...
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