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8/20/2019 Rings of Uranus
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rings-of-uranus 1/4
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.
8/20/2019 Rings of Uranus
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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