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= ﻿ = The Planet = = Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus is a gas giant. But Uranus is a little different. Unlike all the other planets and most of the moons in our Solar System, Uranus spins on its side. It is believed that long ago a very large object smashed into this planet. The crash was so powerful that it completely changed the direction of Uranus' planetary rotation. However, a more recent theory is that the extreme tilt of Uranus' axis may have been caused by a large moon that was slowly pulled away from the planet by another large planet long ago when our Solar System was still new. It is thought that the gravitational pull of this moon moving away from Uranus may have caused it to tilt on its side. = = Like Saturn, the thick atmosphere of Uranus is made up of methane, hydrogen and helium. But Uranus is an extremely cold planet. It has been called the "ice giant." It is believed that Uranus is made up of rock and ice and has a large rocky core. Because of the tremendous planetary pressure of Uranus, there could possibly be trillions of large diamonds in or on the surface of this planet. = = Scientists also believe that on the surface of Uranus there may be a huge ocean. And, interestingly, it is thought that the temperature of this ocean may be extremely hot, maybe even as hot as 5000 degrees Fahrenheit (2760 Celsius). = = Uranus is almost identical to the planet Neptune. = = =Herschel did not name the planet Uranus, he called it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George III of England. The name "Uranus" was first proposed by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in order for it to be in conformity with the other planetary names - which are from classical mythology. Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. This name did not achieve common use until 1850.= = = =Astronomy is very old science - with at least 4,000 years of history. Many of the names of objects that have been known for a long time are historic in nature. The planets and their moons were given names which came from Greek or Roman mythology. This seemed sensible long ago when the objects were named. These days, so many objects are known that names tend to come from the satellite or observatory which discovered (and catalogued) them and a series of numbers which tell astronomers something about where they are located in the sky. The [|International Astronomical Union](IAU) is officially in charge of assigning astronomical names. Note that they do not "sell" names to any objects, be they planets or stars.=

Uranus's moons

=Bianca= Bianca was discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986. It is a small icy world, and like many of Uranus' moons, probably a captured asteroid or comet. Bianca was named after the sister of Katherine in Shakespeare's //Taming of the Shrew//. =media type="custom" key="9550692" width="110" height="110"media type="custom" key="9589522" align="right"media type="custom" key="9862337"Cordelia= The closest moon to the surface of the planet Uranus is Cordelia. Cordelia was discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986. It appears that this moon is a shepherd moon for Uranus' Epsilon ring. A shepherd moon is a moon that orbits a planet on the edge of its rings. By orbiting on the edge of the ring, the moon keeps the dust and ice inside of the ring, much like a shepherd keeps sheep inside a field. =﻿Portia= Uranus' seventh known moon is the world Portia. Portia was discovered in 1986 by Voyager 2. Portia was a rich woman in Shakespeare's //Merchant of Venice//.