RINGS OF

URANUS

RING DISCOVERY
Discovered in 1977 using
stellar occultation.
Stellar occultation:
The obscuration and
dimming of starlight from
stars as an astronomical
body (planet/moon/ring)
passes in front.
Attributed to the
astronomical team of
James L. Elliot, Edward W.
Dunham & Douglas J. Mink.
At the time, Uranus was
reported to have 5 rings.

7 Planet from Sun Jovian Planet Ice

Giant Discovered in 1781 by William
Herschel 27 known moons 84 Earth years
orbital period 98axial tilt Blue
appearance
th

An artistic
impression of
the rings of
Uranus.
Rings of
Uranus are, in
actual fact,
very faint.

William Herschel had

reported sightings of rings,
but was hindered by the
technology of the time.
Later, using imagery from
the Voyager 2 satellite and
work done by telescopes,
the ring count stands at 13.
There are two sets of rings.
The inner system - mostly
narrow and dark. The outer
- brightly coloured.

Name

Zeta (formally 1986

U2R)
6
5
4
Alpha
Beta
Eta
Gamma
Delta
Lambda (formally
1986 U1R)
Epsilon
Nu (formally R/2003
U2)
Mu (formally R/2003
U1)

Distance from
planets centre
(km)
39 600

Radial Width (km)

41 840
42 230
42 580
44 720
45 670
47 190
47 630
48 290
40 020

3 500 (plus 5 000km

extension inwards)
13
23
23
7 12
7 12
02
14
39
12

51 140
67 300

100 200
3 800

97 700

17 000

Source: Planetary Names: Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature

Featured on the bottom left is the structure of Uranuss

rings. These rings, similarly to the rings of both Neptune
and Jupiter, are extremely faint with Epsilon, , being the
brightest. Two rings discovered by Voyager 2 are too
faint to be seen here.
A close-up of Epsilon is shown on the top left.
These images, amongst others, have provided scientist
with basis to make conclusions that the rings of Uranus
are narrow and that there exists wide gaps between
consecutive rings.

** This is purely a proposed theory for how the

rings came to be. Like all theories, this cannot
be proven true. It merely serves to create an
improved understanding an understanding
that reasonably describes observed
phenomenon.
Cordelia and Ophelia
orbiting on either
side of the Epsilon
ring.

Source:
Centre for
Science and
Engineering
Partnerships

Source:
Discover
Magazine

The above below, featuring the rings of Uranus, was taken by Keck. Interesting to note
is that in all the panels there exists bright spots sporadically distributed across the
rings. This is indicative of a surface that is neither consistent nor smooth. This can be
attributed to the fact that the rings are not solid, but rather are composed of chunks of
varying sizes of ice.

Extreme distance from Earth (2.6 billion km!) visited once

This mission focused on Uranuss moons, magnetic fields and surface
Voyager 2, first and only spacecraft to visit, discovered 2 additional faint rings
No further planned missions from NASA exist
Feasibility is an issue
Also, Uranus is not a candidate for life

Bibliography

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[Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
Cain, F. (2009). How Many Rings Does Uranus Have?. [online] Universe Today. Available at:
http://www.universetoday.com/38182/how-many-rings-does-uranus-have/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
Csep10.phys.utk.edu, (2015). The Rings of Uranus. [online] Available at:
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/uranus/rings.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
Knight, J. (2015). Uranus and the Uranian System - The Solar System on Sea and Sky. [online] Seasky.org. Available at:

http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/uranus-menu.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Nineplanets.org, (2015). Uranus - Educational facts and history of the planet Uranus.. [online] Available at:
http://nineplanets.org/uranus.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
Planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov, (2015). Planetary Names: Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature. [online] Available at:
http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Rings [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
Space.com, (2015). Planet Uranus: Facts About Its Name, Moons and Orbit. [online] Available at: http://www.space.com/45uranus-seventh-planet-in-earths-solar-system-was-first-discovered-planet.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].
The Planets, (2015). Uranus Facts: Interesting Facts about Planet Uranus The Planets. [online] Available at:
http://theplanets.org/uranus/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].