Two telescopes have measured the faint heat from the main, or epsilon ring, of Uranus, enabling astronomers for the first time to determine its temperature: a cool 77 Kelvin.
Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Uranus is tipped on its side. This leaves the sun shining non-stop onto its north pole during its long summer, likely resulting in widespread atmospheric changes.
Results from computer simulations confirm that young Uranus was involved in a cataclysmic collision with an object twice the mass of Earth.
After re-examining data acquired by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, astronomers have detected wavy patterns in two of Uranus's dark system of rings' patterns that may be indicative of two undiscovered moons.
