Diameter of Uranus

[/caption]
The diameter of Uranus is 51,118 km. Just for comparison, this about 4 times bigger than the diameter of the Earth, at 12,742 km across.

Things get a little more complicated, however. Here’s the thing. As you probably know, Uranus is spinning on its axis, completing a day in just over 17 hours. The rapidly spin of Uranus causes it to flatten out slightly. In other words, the diameter from pole to pole is slightly less than the diameter across the equator. The diameter of Uranus from pole to pole is 49,946. If you subtract the two, you’ll find that the polar diameter is 1,172 km less than the equatorial diameter.

Want more diameters? Here’s the diameter of Earth, the diameter of the Sun, and the diameter of Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System.

And do you want more information on Uranus? Nine Planets has a great write up about Uranus, and here’s one from Solar Views.

We have recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast just about Uranus. You can access it here: Episode 62: Uranus.

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

Scientists Have Figured out why Martian Soil is so Crusty

On November 26th, 2018, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight)…

5 hours ago

Another Way to Extract Energy From Black Holes?

Black holes are incredible powerhouses, but they might generate even more energy thanks to an…

11 hours ago

Plastic Waste on our Beaches Now Visible from Space, Says New Study

According to the United Nations, the world produces about 430 million metric tons (267 U.S.…

1 day ago

Future Space Telescopes Could be Made From Thin Membranes, Unrolled in Space to Enormous Size

As we saw with JWST, it's difficult and expensive to launch large telescope apertures, relying…

2 days ago

Voyager 1 is Forced to Rely on its Low Power Radio

Voyager 1 was launched waaaaaay back in 1977. I would have been 4 years old…

2 days ago

Webb Confirms a Longstanding Galaxy Model

The spectra of distant galaxies shows that dying sun-like stars, not supernovae, enrich galaxies the…

3 days ago