APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Uranus: The Tilted Planet
Explanation: Uranus is the third largest planet after Jupiter and Saturn . This picture was snapped by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 - the only spacecraft ever to visit Uranus . Uranus has many moons and a ring system. Uranus is composed mostly of rock and ices, but with a thick hydrogen and helium atmosphere. Uranus is peculiar in that its rotation axis is greatly tilted and sometimes points near the Sun . It remains an astronomical mystery why Uranus' axis is so tilted. Uranus and Neptune are very similar.
| Date | November 15, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: Voyager 2, NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |