Space exploration is constantly moving forward. Today, a lot of expeditions are organized, the purpose of which is to study the nearest planets, asteroids and comets. Uranus does not stand aside. A planet remote at a considerable distance from the Earth rotates in an elongated ellipsoidal orbit. It takes as much as 84 Earth years for one revolution around the Sun. An interesting fact is that no more than three years have passed since its discovery in 1781 on Uranus.
This space giant is fraught with many interesting and mysterious secrets. For example, the axis of its rotation differs markedly from other axes of the planets of the solar system. Therefore, Uranus is a planet that rotates, "lying on its side." Scientists attribute this feature to the fact that its equatorial plane is located at an angle of 98 degrees relative to the orbit. In comparison, Uranus looks like a ball that rolls in a circle, while other planets are more reminiscent of a spinning top or a yule.
Uranus is part of a group of giant planets. It is in third place in size, yielding, of course, to Jupiter and Saturn. It is worth noting that Uranus is a planet 15 times the diameter of our native Earth. The discovery of his ring system became a real sensation in the world of science. There are 11 of them, they are narrow, dense and are separated from each other at a considerable distance. These belts are made of stones, so their color is jet black. Prior to this, it was believed that only the planet (6th from the Sun) Saturn has a system of rings.
After the planet Uranus was explored by the Voyager -2 automatic space probe, the photos transferred to them made it possible to conclude that this space giant was originally formed from solid rock blocks and ice. It should be understood that under ice is meant not only water, but also many other chemicals. It was also found that, unlike Saturn and Jupiter, whose atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium, the air masses of Uranus also contain large quantities of acetylene and methane. In the central latitudes of the planet, a wind rages, which directs the clouds of these gases like the Earth, its speed reaches 160 m \ s. The blue color of Uranus is a consequence of methane absorption of red solar radiation in the uppermost parts of the atmosphere.
There is another feature that characterizes Uranus. The planet is immediately surrounded by four magnetic poles. With the help of them, Uranus built around himself a system consisting of satellites and rings. It looks something like this. 12 small satellites are located in the inner part of the asteroid belt, then there are 5 main satellites, and already on the outer side of the rings there are 9 more small space objects. Small satellites have a dark surface and reflect only 6-7% of the light entering them. The 17 satellites closest to the giant planet move inside its magnetic field. They never leave its limits. This phenomenon is still being studied. But it has already become clear that the structure of the magnetic sphere of Uranus is much more complex than that of the Earth, because the satellites have an additional and well-defined influence on it.
