Uranus

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Uranus is a gas planet. It has a strange crack in the middle of it.

While no manned landing on Uranus has yet been attempted, the atmosphere is believed to be highly gaseous, flatulent and inhospitable, discouraging exploration.

Moons of Uranus

Uranus is legendary for the size of its moons which, were they to orbit the Sun directly, would in some cases qualify as dwarf planets in their dimensions.

The first to be mooned by Uranus was astronomer William Herschel, in 1787. Peering into a telescope in an attempt to explore Uranus, he was crudely greeted with a pair of twin moons abruptly thrust into his face. He named them Titania and Oberon.

A similar experience with Uranus occurred in 1851, when William Lassell discovered that he too was being mooned by the planet. He identified again two moons, Ariel and Umbriel, while silently wondering what he had done to irritate Uranus enough so as to provoke such a response.

Gerard Kuiper was mooned once in 1948 and the Voyager 2 flyby mission was mooned when it passed Uranus sometime after 1985. Others report similar experiences and an equally-cold reception.

In the course of more than three centuries of mooning passers-by, Uranus has therefore attracted a rather sophomoric and asinine reputation.

Inexplicably, however, astronomers continue unabated in their curiosity and their desire to catch a glimpse of Uranus.

Exploration of Uranus

Astronauts at Nasa intend to send a probe out in 2015 to investigate Uranus's mysterious ring.

The probe in question is particularly lightweight in order to cope with the high gravity (Uranus is enormous).

NASA will also be faced with the dilemma of whether or not to release images of Uranus, as they are legally obligated to release their findings, but are anxious not to be contacted by Urlawyer over the images.

See also

• Klingons