rstemitz\uranuspage

At 19 AU from the Sun, ^Uranus is living on edge.

Uranus spends its life spinning on its side, like tipping Earth over until the North Pole points towards the Sun. Uranus always has one pole in sunlight. While one receives light for 42 years, the other receives total darkness.

Do you think you could live in total darkness or constant daylight for 42 years? What creatures on Earth live in total darkness or constant daylight? Blue Green due to large amounts of methane in its atmosphere, Uranus is 14 times as large as Earth, yet with a weaker gravity. Composed mainly of hydrogen and helium Uranus is speculated to have a rocky core.

Uranus has nine rings that were discovered in 1977 when the planet passed in front of a star. Scientists, expecting to see only Uranus, instead saw a distant star "wink" nine time before they saw the blue green giant. This "winking" or occultation is like looking at a light bulb and passing your fingers before your eyes.