FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Uranus Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Uranus Quizzes, Trivia

Uranus Trivia

Uranus Trivia Quizzes

  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Science Trivia
  6. »
  7. Our Solar System

Fun Trivia
Uranus is the only planet named for a character in Greek mythology, but these quizzes concentrate on facts not myths. Find out what you know about one of the gas giants of the Solar System.
5 Uranus quizzes and 60 Uranus trivia questions.
1.
  Let's Not Joke About Uranus   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Sadly, for Uranus it has been the butt (pun intended) of jokes ever since it was named. However, there is so much more to this mysterious planet than a welter of bad puns. Best of luck.
Average, 10 Qns, pollucci19, Oct 08 23
Average
pollucci19 gold member
Oct 08 23
237 plays
2.
  Why Not Poke a Little Fun at Uranus?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
While it seems that Uranus has been the butt of many jokes, here are some questions about Uranus that you may find interesting. Yes, we all know it's pronounced YOUR-uh-nuss these days, not that old way.
Average, 10 Qns, H53, Sep 14 23
Average
H53 gold member
Sep 14 23
225 plays
3.
  Twenty Questions About Uranus    
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
We are now really getting into the outer fringes of the Solar System. What do you know about the planet Uranus?
Tough, 20 Qns, almach, Dec 16 19
Tough
almach
Dec 16 19
1973 plays
4.
  Uranus: World of an Ice Giant    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Uranus is a gas and ice giant, the seventh planet from the Sun. How much do you know about it?
Average, 10 Qns, LuH77, Oct 21 21
Average
LuH77
Oct 21 21
234 plays
5.
  Uranus, the Sky-king Star    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a quiz on the gas planet Uranus. Sky-king Star is its Japanese name.
Average, 10 Qns, jonthomas, Mar 18 13
Average
jonthomas
313 plays
trivia question Quick Question
In the early years of its operation, the Hubble Space Telescope witnessed interesting phenomena happening on Uranus. What was it?

From Quiz "Uranus, the Sky-king Star"





Uranus Trivia Questions

1. What is the nickname for Uranus?

From Quiz
Why Not Poke a Little Fun at Uranus?

Answer: The Bull's Eye Planet

Due to its pronounced axial tilt of 98°, the rings give it the look of a "bull's eye" on a target through a strong telescope.

2. In our Solar System the planet Uranus is the second least...?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: Dense

Uranus is second only to Saturn as the least dense planet in our Solar System. The density of Uranus is 1.27 grams per cubic centimetre. The low density suggests it is mainly made of ice, rather than gas.

3. In what year was Uranus discovered by William Herschel?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: 1781

To be precise, the planet was first confirmed to be discovered on March 13, 1781. However, it was misidentified as a comet for several months before it was proven to be a planet.

4. Uranus axial tilt is ____________ degrees.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: 98

Uranus' axis is almost parallel to the ecliptic; it has "fallen" over on its side! The equator is still hotter than the poles; the circumstances for this are unknown. There is still a debate as to which pole is the North pole and which is the South!

5. Which astronomer was the first to discover the planet Uranus?

From Quiz Let's Not Joke About Uranus

Answer: William Herschel

Uranus was the first planet to be discovered with the aid of a telescope. More to the point, the first to be discovered since antiquity. When Herschel first spied the planet in 1781 he initially thought he'd spotted another star, or even a comet. It took another two years, and some further observation by fellow astronomer, Johann Bode, before Uranus became universally accepted as a planet. Herschel, by now a resident of England, lobbied to have the planet named Georgium Sidus (Georgian Star), as a tribute to King George III, but this fell on deaf ears. In particular with the French, who wanted nothing to do with an English king. As a consequence, the name "Herschel" was allocated to the planet until "Uranus", the Greek god of the sky, and suggested by Bode, was adopted universally. (Footnote) The story that Herschel claimed that Uranus could only be seen if it was a full moon is pure myth.

6. By 2020, how many rings was Uranus known to have?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: 13

The rings of Uranus were discovered after Saturn's rings. This discovery helped scientists understand that rings were common of planets in general, and not unique to Saturn. A study in 2016 suggested that the rings of Uranus, Neptune and Saturn may actually be the remains of dwarf planets that once wandered too close to giants.

7. Uranus was found by ______________.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: Sir William Herschel

Sir William Herschel, 1738-1822, his original name was Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel, found Uranus on March 13, 1781. Sir William Herschel also cataloged over 2500 nebulae. NOTE: A little known fact about Uranus, John Flamsteed first plotted Uranus on a star chart as early as 1690 as 34 Tauri!

8. Who was the first person to identify Uranus?

From Quiz Why Not Poke a Little Fun at Uranus?

Answer: William Herschel

Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781 with a homemade 6.2-inch reflecting telescope. It had been observed well before this but was generally mistaken for a star; Hershel himself thought it was a comet at first. It's interesting to note that Uranus was actually the first planet to be "discovered": all the planets closer to the Sun had been identified since before recorded history and were well known from antiquity.

9. Uranus, like Pluto and Ceres, has two official astronomical symbols. One of them combines the symbols of what other two bodies?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Mars and the Sun

This was chosen because Ouranos, which the planet is named after, was a Greek representation of the sky, which was said to be ruled by the Sun and in the domain of Ares, the equivalent of the Roman Mars.

10. Who suggested the name Uranus for the newly discovered planet?

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: Johann Bode

William Herschel wanted to name it after King George III ("georgium sidus"), others wanted to name it Herschel. Johann Bode was famous for producing some of the best star atlases of his time.

11. In relation to the planet Uranus, what are Zeta, Alpha, 6, 5 and Epsilon?

From Quiz Let's Not Joke About Uranus

Answer: Names of some of its rings

Yes, Uranus has rings (and there's a punch line there waiting for a decent comedian to come along). They are faint, but they are there. There are 13 rings in total formed into two sets. The innermost system contains nine rings that are dark grey in colour. In the outer set the first two have a reddish hue while the outermost two are blue, in a similar vein to Saturn's E ring. Starting at the innermost ring and moving outward, the names are; Zeta, 6, 5, 4, Alpha, Beta, Eta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Epsilon, Nu and Mu.

12. What is the innermost known moon of Uranus?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: Cordelia

Cordelia was discovered in 1986 via images taken by the space probe, Voyager 2. It was not recorded again until 1997, when it was detected by the Hubble telescope.

13. How many Earth years does it take Uranus to go once around the Sun?

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: 84

Since Uranus' discovery, it has only revolved around the Sun about 2 1/2 times!

14. What are the moons of Uranus named after?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Characters from the works of Shakespeare and Pope

Unlike any other planet, Uranus' moons are not named after mythical beings relating to it, such as water spirits for Neptune or giants for Jupiter. Some examples are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, and Sycorax.

15. How many spacecraft flew by Uranus by the year 2000?

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: One

Only Voyager 2 flew by Uranus on January 24, 1986.

16. What gives the planet Uranus its distinctive blue-green colouring?

From Quiz Let's Not Joke About Uranus

Answer: Methane

Once again, with methane and Uranus, I am treading cautiously on a thin ice giant. Methane makes up a fraction more than two percent of the planet's atmosphere. When sunlight tries to pass through the atmosphere it is reflected back by Uranus' clouds. But, before it does, the methane in the atmosphere absorbs all of the red portions of the light's spectrum, leaving only the blue-green to be reflected back.

17. How long does it take sunlight to reach Uranus?

From Quiz Why Not Poke a Little Fun at Uranus?

Answer: 160 minutes

It takes light from the Sun 159.6 minutes to reach Uranus; after all, they're about 1.8 billion miles apart. It's quite impossible, however, for sunlight to penetrate the thick clouds surrounding Uranus.

18. What gas makes Uranus blue?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: Methane

The Sun's red light is absorbed by the methane in Uranus' upper atmosphere. The methane also reflects the Sun's blue light into space and propels blue light at our eyes, which is why Uranus has a blue-green hue.

19. The first and only probe to ever have directly visited Uranus was Voyager 2. However, one other probe was once to have gone to Uranus, but instead opted to explore more of what planetary system?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Saturn

The Cassini space probe was being considered for a 12 year journey to Uranus from 2013 to 2025, however this was considered inefficient, and it was instead decided that the Cassini mission would end by destroying the probe in Saturn's atmosphere.

20. What is the diameter of Uranus?

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: 51,000 kilometers

Almost four times the diameter of Earth. Uranus is the third largest planet.

21. It's almost the million dollar question... how much larger is the planet Uranus in volume compared to the Earth?

From Quiz Let's Not Joke About Uranus

Answer: 63 times

That means you can fit 63 Earths into Uranus (OK, enough is enough). Seriously though, Uranus has the third largest diameter of the planets in our solar system. It has a radius of 25,362 kilometres (15,759 miles), which makes it four times wider than Earth. If you're struggling to picture that, then picture a nickel alongside a softball and, relatively speaking, that would be close. (Footnote) The million dollar question hint stemmed from the phrase "the 64 million dollar question", which, generally, referred to something that was important but its outcome was unknown.

22. In the early years of its operation, the Hubble Space Telescope witnessed interesting phenomena happening on Uranus. What was it?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Increased atmospheric activity

This was noticed with many auroras appearing on the planet's poles, along with increased cloud cover. When Voyager 2 took the first close pictures of Uranus, astronomers were surprised to find a mostly plain atmosphere.

23. What are the possible wind speeds of Uranus?

From Quiz Why Not Poke a Little Fun at Uranus?

Answer: Up to 900 kph (560 mph)

Winds on Uranus have been measured at up to 900 kph; only Saturn and Neptune have more powerful winds. Strangely enough, winds are retrograde at the equator, meaning they blow in the reverse direction of the planet's rotation.

24. Which moon of Uranus was the the last moon to be discovered before Voyager 2's visit in 1986?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: Miranda

Miranda was discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper in the McDonald Observatory, Texas, 1948. Miranda is around 310 miles across, and sports fault canyons around 12 times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Unlike the other main four moons of Uranus, Miranda has an orbit which is slightly inclined. Miranda was named after a character in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest."

25. What star was Uranus near when it was first historically observed?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Zeta Tauri

The earliest confirmed observation of Uranus was in 1690, where John Flamsteed mistook the planet for a star, and designated it 34 Tauri.

26. The atmosphere of Uranus is mostly _______________.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Uranus

Answer: Hydrogen and Helium

Similar to Jupiter and Saturn, 83% hydrogen, 15% helium and 2% methane.

27. Some astronomers do not consider Uranus to be a gas giant. Instead, they refer to it as what?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: An ice giant

Uranus, along with Neptune, are sometimes considered to be a different type of planet than Jupiter and Saturn. Some models suggest that they formed differently, and were once much closer to the Sun than they are now.

28. How long did it take Voyager 2 to reach Uranus?

From Quiz Let's Not Joke About Uranus

Answer: 9 ½ years

The question I really wanted to ask was "how long would it take to get from the Earth to Uranus"? However, that answer was dependent on too many variables. The main ones being the path that would be chosen and where the two planets were in relation to their orbits when you chose to undertake the mission. If we wanted to compare by distance alone, the distance from the Earth to the sun is described as an astronomical unit (AU). Uranus is 19.8 astronomical units away from the sun. Sunlight would take two hours and 40 minutes to reach Uranus. Voyager 2 didn't quite travel at the speed of light, it left Earth on August 20, 1977 and reached Uranus on January 24, 1986.

29. Uranus makes one trip around the Sun in how many Earth years?

From Quiz Uranus: World of an Ice Giant

Answer: 84

During certain times of Uranus' orbit, one pole or the other will be facing directly at the Sun, getting 42 years of direct sunlight. Other than at this time, the planet is dark.

30. Which layer of Earth's atmosphere does Uranus lack an equivalent to?

From Quiz Uranus, the Sky-king Star

Answer: Mesosphere

Uranus is not the only gas giant planet lacking a mesosphere. In our own Solar System, Jupiter also lacks one, and spectroscopic scans of exoplanets has suggested that they too may lack this layer.

This is category 20559
Last Updated Nov 30 2024 5:50 AM
play trivia = Top 5% Rated Quiz, take trivia quiz Top 10% Rated Quiz, test trivia quiz Top 20% Rated Quiz, popular trivia A Well Rated Quiz
new quizzes = added recently, editor pick = Editor's Pick editor = FunTrivia Editor gold = Gold Member

Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.