Uranus: The Tilted Planet
			
		
		
		
			Uranus is the third largest planet after 
Jupiter and 
Saturn. This picture was snapped by the 
Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 - the only
spacecraft ever to visit 
Uranus. Uranus
has many moons and a ring system. 
Uranus is composed mostly of rock and ices, but
with a thick 
hydrogen and 
helium atmosphere.   
Uranus is
peculiar in that its rotation axis is greatly tilted and 
sometimes points near the 
Sun. It remains an
astronomical mystery why Uranus' axis is so tilted. Uranus and 
Neptune are very similar.