ice giant
Uranus
The tilted ice giant
Uranus is a pale blue ice giant with an unusual axial tilt of about 98 degrees. Its atmosphere contains methane, which absorbs red light and gives the planet its cyan appearance. It hosts a modest ring system and 28 known moons.
Read the full Uranus guideFacts about the sideways ice giant: rotation, rings, moons, size, distance, temperature, blue-green color, and how to see Uranus tonight.Drag to rotate
Key facts
- Diameter
- 50,724 km
- Radius
- 25,362 km
- Mass
- 8.681e+25 kg
- Gravity (Earth = 1)
- 0.889
- Density
- 1.27 g/cm³
- Distance from Sun
- 2,871,000,000 km
- Orbital period
- 30,589 Earth days
- Rotation period
- -17.24 hours
- Average temperature
- -195°C
- Known moons
- 28
Values are approximate and based on cited sources.
Atmosphere
- Hydrogen
- Helium
- Methane
Surface
No solid surface; a hazy atmosphere sits above a hot, dense fluid interior.
Internal structure
A small rocky core surrounded by a hot, dense fluid of water, methane, and ammonia ices.
Moons
Uranus has no known moons.
Exploration missions
Voyager 2
The only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune and the only probe to fly past all four giant planets.
View mission
Sources
- NASA Science — Uranus— last verified 2026-01-15