Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun, and it is the third-largest planet in the solar system. It has a diameter of 50,724 kilometers and a mass of 8.68 x 10^25 kilograms, making it about 14.5 times more massive than Earth. Uranus is an ice giant planet, primarily composed of water, methane, and ammonia, and has the coldest atmosphere in the solar system with temperatures that can dip down to -224°C (-371°F). The planet has a tilted axis of rotation, which causes it to rotate on its side with its poles pointing towards the sun. Uranus has a day length of approximately 17.2 Earth hours and an orbital period of 84 Earth years. The planet has 27 known moons, with the largest being Titania and Oberon. Uranus also has a faint ring system, which was discovered in 1977 during a stellar occultation. Uranus has been explored by only one spacecraft, NASA's Voyager 2, which flew by the planet in 1986, providing the most detailed images and data of the planet and its moons to date.
Uranus is currently in the constellation of Aries. The current Right Ascension of Uranus is 03h 12m 10s and the Declination is +17° 32’ 43” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom ). The current magnitude of Uranus is 5.87 (JPL).
Today's rise, transit and set times of Uranus from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Uranus is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 34° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, Uranus is barely visible to naked eye under a clear and dark sky, easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Uranus Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Uranus finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Uranus is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Uranus?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Uranus in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Uranus Distance from Earth
The distance of Uranus from Earth is currently 3,071,202,666 kilometers, equivalent to 20.529722 Astronomical Units. Light takes 2 hours, 50 minutes and 44.4294 seconds to travel from Uranus and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Uranus from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Uranus from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Uranus to Earth
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Uranus to Earth happens on Sat Mar 21 2471 at a distance of 17.260466 Astronomical Units, or 2,582,128,904 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Uranus Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Uranus, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Uranus Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Uranus. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
---|---|---|
Diameter | 50724 km | 3.9809 |
Mass | 86.8103 x 1024 kg | 14.5358 |
Density | 1.27 gr/cm3 | 0.2303 |
Escape Velocity | 21.38 km/s | 1.9106 |
Sideral Rotation | -17.2399 hours | -0.7203 |
Absolute Magnitude | -7.19 | |
Geometric Albedo | 0.51 |
Uranus 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Uranus computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Uranus in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 Jun 03 | 03h 10m 32s | +17° 26’ 12” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 04 | 03h 10m 45s | +17° 27’ 05” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 05 | 03h 10m 58s | +17° 27’ 57” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 06 | 03h 11m 11s | +17° 28’ 50” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 07 | 03h 11m 23s | +17° 29’ 40” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 08 | 03h 11m 36s | +17° 30’ 33” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 09 | 03h 11m 49s | +17° 31’ 23” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 10 | 03h 12m 02s | +17° 32’ 13” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 11 | 03h 12m 15s | +17° 33’ 05” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 12 | 03h 12m 28s | +17° 33’ 54” | 5.87 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 13 | 03h 12m 41s | +17° 34’ 44” | 5.86 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 14 | 03h 12m 52s | +17° 35’ 33” | 5.86 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 15 | 03h 13m 05s | +17° 36’ 20” | 5.86 | 3.4” | Aries |
2023 Jun 16 | 03h 13m 18s | +17° 37’ 09” | 5.86 | 3.4” | Aries |