Uranus
Ice giant
A pale blue-green ice giant that spins on its side, so each pole gets decades of daylight and darkness.
Key facts
- Type
- Ice giant
- Diameter
- 51,118 km
- Average distance from the Sun
- 2,867 million km
- One orbit
- About 84 Earth years
- One day
- About 17.2 hours
- Known moons
- 28 (NASA)
About the Uranus
How to recognise it
Uranus looks like a smooth, almost featureless pale cyan ball. The colour comes from methane gas in its atmosphere. This image was taken by Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus, in 1986.
What it is like
Uranus is tipped over so far that it orbits the Sun on its side. It is an ice giant: under its atmosphere it is thought to be mostly water, methane and ammonia. It has faint rings and 28 known moons.
Sources
Facts checked: 29 October 2026
