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RINGS OF

URANUS 

7th Planet from Sun · Jovian Planet · Ice

Giant · Discovered in 1781 by William

Herschel · 27 known moons · 84 Earth years

orbital period · 98˚axial tilt · Blue

appearance 

RING DISCOVERY   Discovered in 1977 usingstellar occultation. 

 

Stellar occultation: 

The obscuration anddimming of starlight fromstars as an astronomicalbody (planet/moon/ring)passes in front. 

  Attributed to the

astronomical team ofJames L. Elliot, Edward W.Dunham & Douglas J. Mink. 

  At the time, Uranus wasreported to have 5 rings. 

 William Herschel hadreported sightings of ringsbut was hindered by thetechnology of the time. 

 Later, using imagery fromthe Voyager 2 satellite and

 work done by telescopes,

the ring count stands at 13.

 There are two sets of rings.The inner system - mostlynarrow and dark. The outer- brightly coloured. 

 An artistic

impression ofthe rings ofUranus. 

Rings ofUranus are, inactual fact,

 very faint. 

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Name

 

Distance from

planet’s centre

km) 

Radial Width km)

 

Zeta (formally 1986U2R) 

39 600 

3 500 (plus 5 

000kmextension inwards) 

6  41 840  1 – 3 

5  42 230  2 – 3 

4  42 580  2 – 3 

 Alpha  44 720  7 – 12 

Beta 

45 670 

7 – 12 

Eta  47 190  0 – 2 

Gamma  47 630  1 – 4 

Delta  48 290  3 – 9 

Lambda (formally1986 U1R) 

40 020  1 – 2 

Epsilon  51 140  100 – 200 

Nu (formally R/2003U2) 

67 300 

3 800 

Mu (formally R/2003U1) 

97 700  17 000 

Featured on the bottom left is the structure of Uranurings. These rings, similarly to the rings of both Neptu

and Jupiter, are extremely faint with Epsilon, ε, being brightest. Two rings discovered by Voyager 2 are tofaint to be seen here. 

 A close-up of Epsilon is shown on the top left.These images, amongst others, have provided scient

 with basis to make conclusions that the rings of Uranare narrow and that there exists wide gaps betwee

consecutive rings. 

 Source: Planetary Names: Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature 

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** This is purely a proposed theory for how therings came to be. Like all theories, this cannotbe proven true. It merely serves to create animproved understanding – an understanding

that reasonably describes observedphenomenon. 

Cordelia and Opheliaorbiting on eitherside of the Epsilon

ring. 

 Source:

Centre for

Science an

 Engineeri

 Partnersh

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The above below, featuring the rings of Uranus, was taken by Keck. Interesting to noteis that in all the panels there exists bright spots sporadically distributed across the

rings. This is indicative of a surface that is neither consistent nor smooth. This can beattributed to the fact that the rings are not solid, but rather are composed of chunks o

 varying sizes of ice. 

  Extreme distance from Earth (2.6 billion km!)  visited once 

 

This mission focused on Uranus’s moons, magnetic fields and surface 

   Voyager 2, first and only spacecraft to visit, discovered 2 additional faint ring  No further planned missions from NASA exist 

  Feasibility is an issue 

   Also, Uranus is not a candidate for life 

Bibliography

Cain, F. (2008). Uranus Rings. [online] Universe Today. Available at: http://www.universetoday.com/19288/uranus-rings/

[Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Cain, F. (2009). How Many Rings Does Uranus Have?. [online] Universe Today. Available at:

http://www.universetoday.com/38182/how-many-rings-does-uranus-have/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Csep10.phys.utk.edu, (2015). The Rings of Uranus. [online] Available at:

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/uranus/rings.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Knight, J. (2015). Uranus and the Uranian System - The Solar System on Sea and Sky. [online] Seasky.org. Available at:

http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/uranus-menu.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Nineplanets.org, (2015). Uranus - Educational facts and history of the planet Uranus.. [online] Available at:

http://nineplanets.org/uranus.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov, (2015). Planetary Names: Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature. [online] Available at:

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Rings [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Space.com, (2015). Planet Uranus: Facts About Its Name, Moons and Orbit . [online] Available at: http://www.space.com/45

uranus-seventh-planet-in-earths-solar-system-was-first-discovered-planet.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

The Planets, (2015). Uranus Facts: Interesting Facts about Planet Uranus • The Planets. [online] Available at:

http://theplanets.org/uranus/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

 Source:

 Discover

 Magazine