This is the warld that’s name haes gien fowk a comic terr. Uranus is cryed efter the Greek god Ouranós the husband o the goddess Gaea. Nane o the ancients kent aboot this warld an it wisna until the German astrologue Wilhelm Herschel fund it in 1781 that it wis eikit tae the kinrik o planets. Back in the 1980’s thaim that made the Soothron TV shaw Spitting Image haed the puppet o newsreader Alistair Burnett speakin anent the planet Bumhole – soondit as ‘boom-ho-leh’ tae hae a lauch at the fact awbody wis noo gauin aboot sayin ‘yooriniss’ insteid o the ordnar wey that Uranus haed been soondit bi astrologues an newsreaders afore the 1980’s. The trouble wis that throu the spreid o American TV shaws in the 1960’s an 1970’s fowk becam acquaint wi the word ‘anus’ whaur thay haedna kent it afore. Tae the fasht scientific speirars an ithers, fowk knottin thairsels at the soond o ‘Your-anus’ cawed awa thair dignity an syne thay ettled at soondin the name anither wey.

Whither ye say ‘your-anus’ or ‘yooriniss’ this is anither intressin warld for a wheen o reasons. Its day is 17 houres an 14 meenits lang but it taks 84 year tae gang-roond the Sun. Tae the Yird Uranus is anither etin at ower 14 times the size o oor warld. Uranus haes a byordnar tilt til its aixis sae that the hail warld is agley in compare wi the ither planets an sae sits on its side. Whit wey this shuid be is a tickler, but a puckle fowk haes suggestit that whan the Sun Gird wis in its youthheid anither warld bairged intae Uranus cowpin it sidieweys. That it is sidieweys is weel seen fae the thin rings aboot its gird that gaes aboot it at 98 degrees tilt. Acause o this byordar poseetion ae pole is airtit at the Sun turn aboot for 42 year at a time while the ither pole is in daurkness for the same. Pairt o the planet aboot its gird gets tae see daw an sundoun but for the lave o this warld daurkness or licht lasts for langer periods.

The atmosphere o Uranus is made maistly fae helium an hydrogen but thir elements is melled wi ammonia an methane forby. As we gae doun inwards the atmosphere gies wey til a mell o ammonia, methane an wattery ice that turns intil a thick bree an at its hert is a sma hert o rock an ice. Uranus haes its ain cloods like ither warlds. The anes in the north is sma an bricht but thaim that’s in the sooth is daurker. Aroond the middle gird o the planet the winds blaws contergaits tae the birl o Uranus while aw thaim that blaws taewards the poles gaes wi it. The winds is at thair maist strang in the regions atween the middle gird an the poles but thair maucht dwynes aince thay win at the actual poles. Acause Uranus is fouthie o jeelt materials hit an its neebor Neptune haes affen been cawed ice etins raither nor gaseous anes, an acause it gies aff haurdly ony heat it is the cauldest warld in oor Sun Gird wi temperatures as laich as -222.2 °C or -371.5 °F. Forby the byordnar cauld, Uranus haes a magnetic field that is orra. It daesna come fae its mids but tends tae spring fae the soothward face o this warld.

It isna weel kent but Uranus haes rings gauin aboot it – the same anes that shaws Uranus is sidieweys – an aw o them thin an likely no that auld. Tae date 13 rings haes been coontit. Like the rings o Seturn it is thocht that the pairticles makkin up thir anes comes either fae stour fawin fae the moons or that a sma moon brak up. The’r 27 moons gauin aboot Uranus that we ken the day. Thir moons is sma in compare wi ither groups aroond ither warlds an the biggest ane is Titania that’s jist ower 960 mile abreed. The ither big moons is cryed Ariel, Miranda, Oberon an Umbriel. At some pynt Ariel wis pullt and pusht throu the wecht o the gravity fae Uranus an volcanoes o ice pit oot ammonia ower its surface. Aince Ariel becam mair jeelt it hoved an crackit the ammonia surface leain it wi the cleuchs we see the day