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A Casual Day on Uranus
A Casual Day on Uranus
Gravity
Gravity
First of all, Uranus does not really have a surface that you can stand on. However scientist still consider the surface of Uranus to be where the atmospheric pressure reaches 1 bar, the pressure at sea level on Earth. At this surface, you would not feel significantly different than you would on Earth, with Uranus having a surface gravity of about .91 times that of Earth.
Temperature
Temperature
Uranus may not be the farthest planet from the Sun, but it boasts the coldest recorded temperatures. Right above the "surface" of Uranus is the troposphere, where the clouds are. In this layer of the atmosphere, the temperature ranges from minus 243 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 153 degrees Celsius) to minus 370 F (minus 218 C). To put that in perspective, the coldest air temperature ever recorded on Earth is minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
Seasons On Uranus
Seasons On Uranus
The Odd One Out
The Odd One Out
Uranus is a very strange planet in that it rotates on its side. As shown in the image to the right, Uranus is the oddball, with its axis rotating at about 98 degrees. This strange rotation has some consequences
Season change on the planets is dependent on the tilt of that planet. On Earth during the summer, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun by 23 degrees, so the rays hit the Earth at a steeper, more direct, angle. This causes more energy to be absorbed in that hemisphere. On Uranus, the same thing happens except much more extreme. The tilt on Uranus would keep one pole pointed at the Sun for a quarter of its orbital period. This also means that the summer hemisphere would only see sunlight for its summer, and the winter hemisphere would never see any light at all. Uranus's orbital period is 84 years, so each season would last 21 years.
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