1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bum here. There are eight 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: planets in this Solar system, and Neptune is the farthest 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: from the Sun, yet it still releases more heat than Urinus, 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: planet number seven, four times wider than Earth. Uranus is 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: also about fourteen point five times as massive as the 7 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: world we live on. After Jupiter and Saturn, it's the 8 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: third biggest planet in the Sun's orbit. Scientists have coined 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: an appropriate term for the large chili bodies like Urinus 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: ice giants. Neptune falls into the same category, but Uranus 11 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: is quite an odd duck compared to its neighboring planet. 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: For starters, Urinus spins on an extreme tilt, resulting in 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: some truly wild seasons around the polls. Even the ice 14 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: giants name is a bit peculiar, and not just because 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: it makes school kids chuckle. Okay, let's not kid ourselves. 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: You're never too old to enjoy a good Urinus joke. 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: Headline writers certainly don't think so. If article titles like 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: NASA wants to probe Uranus in search of gas and 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: Uranus smells like farts are any indication these jokes. If 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: you're not getting them hinge on the spelling of Uranus, 21 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: you are a n u s allowing for an English 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: speaking mispronunciation as your anus meaning rectum that we're classy puns. Aside, 23 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: Uranus represents a break with nomenclatural tradition. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, 24 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: and Neptune all took their names from Roman gods or deities. However, 25 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: Uranus uniquely was named after a Greek god. In the 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: religion of ancient Greece, Uranus was revered as the primordial 27 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: god of the sky. He had a son named Chronos 28 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: and a perhaps more famous grandson known as Zeus. Those 29 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: two figures were later conflated with two Roman deities, Saturn 30 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: and Jupiter. Though the planet Irness was discovered by astronomer 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: William Herschel on March thirteenth one, he didn't give it 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: the name we used today. A loyal Britain Herschel wanted 33 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: to call this far away world Georgium Sidus or George's Star, 34 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: in honor of King George the Third, but by nature 35 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: that name was politically charged to avoid alienating non British stargazers. 36 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: German astronomer Johann Elert Buddha suggested calling the planet Uranus 37 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: in three. Eventually his alternative moniker went out. But back 38 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: to that axial tilt. Of planets rotate around an axis, 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: which is the imaginary line connecting their northern and southern poles, 40 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: and they simultaneously orbit on an imaginary plane around the Sun. Now, 41 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: Earth has an axial tilt of twenty three point five degrees. 42 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: This means there's a twenty three point five degree angle 43 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: between Earth's axis and its plane of orbit around the Sun. 44 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: Without the tilt, our home world wouldn't have seasons or 45 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: possibly life. Urnus is skewed too, but to a much 46 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: greater extent. In relation to its orbital plane. The ice 47 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: giants axis has been tilted at a jaw dropping nine 48 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: point seven degree angle. Next to Saturn and Neptune, Uranus 49 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: looks like it's lying on its side, So what's up 50 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: with the weird orientation? A computer simulation published in ten 51 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,399 Speaker 1: suggests Uranus was hit by a huge protoplanet around four 52 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: billion years ago, and then again, there may have been 53 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: multiple impacts or a long gone circumplanetary disc could have 54 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: played a role. However, it happened. The tilt subjects both 55 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: poles to long dark winters and long bright summers. On Uranus, 56 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: one orbit around the Sun or one year, lasts for 57 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: roughly eighty four Earth years. Each pole is aimed almost 58 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: directly at the Sun for about twenty one straight Earth 59 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: years during its summer season. Meanwhile, the other pole faces 60 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: the opposite direction, enduring a long dark winter. Despite the 61 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: extreme tilt, Uranus is warmer at the equator than it 62 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: is at either pole. Nobody knows I and this isn't 63 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: the planet's only mystery. Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune all radiate 64 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: more than twice as much heat as they receive from 65 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: the Sun, yet Uranus's heat output is significantly lower. This 66 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: disparity has long baffled planetary scientists. As we already mentioned, 67 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: Uranus and Neptune are both ice giants. Planets of this 68 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: sort have rocky cores covered by mantles rich in an 69 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: icy half frozen slush of ammonia, methane, and water. Next up, 70 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: there's the atmosphere, whose outer level is full of hydrogen, helium, 71 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: and even more methane. Researchers have found that Uranus's atmospheric 72 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: clouds contain hydrogen sulfide, a compound responsible for the rotten 73 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: eggs stench we all know and hate. So yes. Uranus 74 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: literally stinks to boot. The densest part of its atmosphere 75 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: sees brutal temperatures of negative two hundred forty three to 76 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: negative three hundred and seventy degrees fahrenheit. That's a negative 77 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: one fifty three to negative to eight degrees celsius. That's 78 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: hardly a welcoming environment for any future astronauts, but at 79 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: least the color scheme would be familiar. Earth isn't the 80 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: only blue planet in the Solar System. Methane absorbs red light, 81 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: giving Uranus and Neptune deep blue complexions. Of the two worlds, 82 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: Irness looks slightly greener. Since nineteen seventy seven, we've known 83 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: that Irness has a ring system around its equator. To date, 84 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: astronomers have counted thirteen rings encircling the planet. The structures 85 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: are relatively dim and lack the fine particles observed in 86 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: other ring systems like Saturns. Each one is composed of 87 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: debris chunks that are gulf ball sized at minimum. For 88 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: some reason, smaller material gets exiled into space between these rings. 89 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: Ranness also has twenty seven known moons, twenty five of 90 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: which were named after shakespeare characters like Ophelia, Juliette, Desdemona, Puck, 91 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: and Miranda, whose namesake appears in The Tempest. Geologically complex 92 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: Miran contains the single policed cliff known to humankind, dubbed 93 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,559 Speaker 1: Verona Rupez. It has an estimated height of twelve point 94 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:11,799 Speaker 1: four miles that's twenty kilometers, meaning that if you happened 95 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: to be walking along its peak and you happened to 96 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: fall off, you would plummet for twelve minutes straight before 97 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: hitting the ground. Other satellites of note include Cicaras and Caliban. 98 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: While most of Urness's moons spin in the same direction 99 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: as the planet does, these two revolve the other way. 100 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: Scientists think they were once independent objects that the ice 101 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: giants gravity ensnared by the way. Caliban is another Tempest character, 102 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: and Cicarax was said to be his mother. From its 103 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: weird rings to its puzzling climate, Urness has found plenty 104 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 1: of ways to surprise us. Only time will tell what 105 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: further mysteries the planet holds until then. Although it's very dim, 106 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: Urnus is visible to the naked eye on some dark, 107 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: clear nights, if you have sharp vision, if not so much, 108 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: It's easily visible with binoculars or a telescope. Today's episode 109 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tyler clang Or. 110 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: More on this and lots of other topics. Besit hows 111 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of our 112 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. 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