Astronomy: Uranus
Across
- 4. Uranus has the most extreme axial tilt in the solar system (approx. 98 degrees), causing it to spin on its side like a rolling ball.
- 5. The classification for Uranus, distinct from Gas Giants.
- 6. The smallest and innermost of Uranus's five major moons, famous for its "Frankenstein" appearance with jumbled canyons and cliffs.
- 8. It takes Uranus approximately 84 Earth years to complete one trip around the Sun.
- 10. The British astronomer who discovered Uranus in 1781, initially thinking it was a comet or a star.
- 11. The leading hypothesis explaining Uranus's severe tilt, suggesting an Earth-sized object crashed into it shortly after it formed.
- 13. Even though Neptune is farther away, Uranus is the ______.
- 15. Because of its tilt, Uranus has the most extreme ______.
- 16. The only spacecraft to fly past Uranus
- 18. The largest moon of Uranus, named after the Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- 19. Uranus has two sets of rings
Down
- 1. Uranus has a bizarre magnetic field that is off-center.
- 2. Like Neptune, Uranus occasionally displays large atmospheric storms.
- 3. High pressure and temperature deep within the planet likely break apart methane molecules, compressing carbon into ______.
- 7. The original name Herschel proposed for the planet.
- 9. Uranus rotates in the opposite direction of most planets.
- 12. The second-largest and outermost of the major moons, heavily cratered and named after the King of the Fairies.
- 14. The gas in Uranus's upper atmosphere that absorbs red light and reflects blue-green light, giving the planet its aquamarine color.
- 17. is the only planet named after a figure from Greek mythology (Ouranos, the sky god) rather than Roman mythology.