Diagram of the Rings and Close Moons of Uranus Poster

Uranus has 27 known natural satellites. The names for these satellites are chosen from characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five main satellites are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. The Uranian satellite system is the least massive among the gas giants; indeed, the combined mass of the five major satellites would be less than half that of Triton alone. The largest of the satellites, Titania, has a radius of only 788.9 km, or less than half that of the Moon, but slightly more than Rhea, the second largest moon of Saturn, making Titania the eighth largest moon in the Solar System. The moons have relatively low albedos; ranging from 0.20 for Umbriel to 0.35 for Ariel (in green light). The moons are ice-rock conglomerates composed of roughly fifty percent ice and fifty percent rock. The ice may include ammonia and carbon dioxide. Uranus has a complicated planetary ring system, which was the second such system to be discovered in the Solar System after Saturn's. The rings are composed of extremely dark particles, which vary in size from micrometers to a fraction of a metre. Thirteen distinct rings are presently known, the brightest being the ε ring. All except two rings of Uranus are extremely narrow—they are usually a few kilometres wide. The rings are probably quite young; the dynamics considerations indicate that they did not form with Uranus. The matter in the rings may once have been part of a moon (or moons) that was shattered by high-speed impacts. From numerous pieces of debris that formed as result of those impacts only few particles survived in a limited number of stable zones corresponding to present rings. This image has been digitally filtered to reduce blurring. This effect is more noticeable the larger the image is. Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) Image Reproduction Rights: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uranian_system_schematic-en.svg uranus moon ring diagram planet "planet uranus" "uranus rings" "uranus moons" "uranus diagram" "uranus chart" "planetary rings" Miranda Ariel Umbriel Titania Oberon astronomy cosmology space "outer space" "space exploration" "7th planet" "solar system"