Uranus

Latest about Uranus

Auroras on Uranus behave in unexpected ways.

Scientists create most detailed map of Uranus' mysterious auroras

By Tereza Pultarova published

Uranus
Artist’s impression of a mushball descending through a giant planet’s atmosphere.

Stinky 'mushball' hailstones on Uranus may explain an atmospheric anomaly there

By Tereza Pultarova published

A recent discovery of giant ammonia-rich hailstones, dubbed mushballs, on Jupiter might explain why Uranus and Neptune seem to have no ammonia in their atmospheres.

Uranus
The blue body of Uranus glows (pin) with X-rays

Mysterious X-rays are flaring out of Uranus

By Brandon Specktor published

Astronomers detected X-rays flaring out of Uranus for the first time. It could be a case of solar scattering, or some as-yet unknown process.

Uranus
Uranus is uniquely tipped over among the planets in our solar system. Uranus' moons and rings are also orientated this way, suggesting they formed during a cataclysmic impact which tipped it over early in its history.

What smacked Uranus on its side? Something icy and as massive as Earth, scientists say.

By Mike Wall published

Astronomers have worked out details of the giant impact that knocked Uranus so famously askew.

Uranus
An animation shows the strange magnetic field of Uranus. The yellow arrow points toward the sun and the dark blue arrow represents the planet's axis.

Old gas blob from Uranus found in vintage Voyager 2 data

By Meghan Bartels published

Buried inside data Voyager 2 gathered at Uranus more than 30 years ago is the signature of a massive bubble that may have stolen a blob of the planet's gassy atmosphere.

Uranus
In this composite image, the heat from the rings around Uranus can be seen. The dark bands in the planet’s atmosphere indicate radiolight-absorbing molecules such as hydrogen sulfied, while the bright areas contain very few of these molecules.

Uranus Is a Weirdo — And So Are Its Rings

By Jeanna Bryner published

New images of the icy planet's rings reveal some surprises.

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How Did Uranus End Up On Its Side?

By Jacob Kegerreis published

A body at least twice as massive as the Earth smashing into Uranus could have made it lopsided, shows research.

Uranus
Methane in the atmosphere gives Uranus its blue hue, as seen in this image from the Keck telescope from 2004.

No Joke: Uranus Smells Terrible, Study Says

By Stephanie Pappas published

The upper cloud tops of Uranus are shot through with hydrogen sulfide, the gas that smells of rotten eggs.

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A photo of Uranus from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew by the planet in 1986.

Uranus May Have Odd, Strobe-Like Magnetic Field

By Hanneke Weitering published

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Hubble View of Uranus Auroras

Auroras on Uranus Dazzle in New Hubble Telescope Views

By Mike Wall published

Bright auroras light up Uranus' atmosphere in two newly released photos, which combine observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the agency's Voyager 2 probe.

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