URANUS
Reading edition
This is the next to the last planet in our solar system. It is a large planet, having a diameter of about 31,000 miles. Uranus revolves round the Sun in rather more than 84 years, at a mean distance of 1,781,000,000 miles. It is attended by four (or five) satellites. Belts and spots have been seen upon its surface, but relatively little is known concerning its physical conditions, owing to its great distance from us, and its relative smallness. This planet was discovered, as is well known, by Herschel, and was named after him, but its name was subsequently changed. (It is still mentioned as Herschel, in certain books upon Astrology.) It is probable that the temperature of Uranus is relatively low, owing to the small percentage of the sun’s rays which reach its surface. It has been calculated that its theoretical temperature is about 330° F.