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Uranus, rings
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| Infrared images showing the change
in appearance of Uranus's rings as seen from Earth. Credit: I. de Pater & H. Hammel/Keck Observatory |
Uranus has a faint system of 13 narrow, elliptical-shaped rings, composed of dark dust and rocks up to about 10 meters in diameter. The ring system was discovered in 1977, during an occultation of a star by the planet. As the star first approached and then receded behind the planet it appear to blink off and on – a blinking found to be due to a system of rings. For more pictures of the rings, see Uranus gallery. See also Uranus, moons.
| ring | distance from center of Uranus (km) |
width of ring (km) |
eccentricity | inclination ( ° ) |
| R/2003 U2 | 97,700 | |||
| R/2003 U1 | 66,000 | |||
| Epsilon | 51,149 | 20 to 96 | 0.00794 | |
| Lambda | 50,024 | ~2 | 0. | 0. |
| Delta | 48,300 | 3 to 7 | 0.00004 | 0.001 |
| Gamma | 47,627 | 1 to 4 | 0.00109 | 0.000 |
| Eta | 47,176 | 1.6 | ||
| Beta | 45,661 | 5 to 11 | 0.00044 | 0.005 |
| Alpha | 44,720 | 4 to 10 | 0.00076 | 0.015 |
| Ring 4 | 42,571 | ~2 | 0.001065 | 0.032 |
| Ring 5 | 42,234 | ~2 | 0.00190 | 0.054 |
| Ring 6 | 41,837 | 1.5 | 0.00101 | 0.062 |
| R/1986 U2 | 38,000 |
Related category
Also on this site:
Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History