The Solar System - Word Search - PUZZLE #21 URANUS - August 2025

PUZZLE #21 - URANUS 

IN-CONTEXT WORD DEFINITIONS

Ice Giant: Uranus is classified as an Ice Giant, a type of giant planet primarily composed of icy materials like water, ammonia, and methane, along with a small rocky core and a thick atmosphere. Unlike gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, ice giants like Uranus (and Neptune) have higher concentrations of “ices” and less hydrogen and helium overall.

Axial Tilt: Uranus has an extreme axial tilt of about 98 degrees, meaning it essentially rolls on its side as it orbits the Sun. This unusual tilt causes extreme seasons and makes Uranus's rotation and magnetic field unique among the planets.

Ouranos: Ouranos is the original Greek name for Uranus, the primordial sky god in mythology. Uranus is the only major planet named after a Greek deity, rather than a Roman one. In mythology, Ouranos was the father of the Titans.

Voyager Two: Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus. It flew by in 1986, capturing the first and only close-up images of the planet and its moons. Voyager 2 revealed details about Uranus’s atmosphere, rings, magnetic field, and many of its moons.

Uranian: Uranian is the adjective used to describe anything related to Uranus. For example, “Uranian moons,” “Uranian atmosphere,” or “Uranian system” all refer to aspects of or belonging to the planet Uranus.

Oberon: Oberon is the second-largest moon of Uranus. It is heavily cratered and shows signs of ancient tectonic activity. Like Titania, it is named after a character from Shakespearean literature (the king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Ariel: Ariel is one of Uranus’s major moons and shows the most evidence of geological activity, with smooth plains, valleys, and ridges. It is brighter and less cratered than Oberon or Umbriel. Ariel is also named after a spirit from Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Umbriel: Umbriel is a dark, heavily cratered moon of Uranus. It is one of the least reflective major moons in the solar system and appears geologically inactive. Like the others, its name comes from Shakespeare (The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope also shares influence).

Blue-green: Uranus has a blue-green appearance due to the presence of methane gas in its atmosphere. Methane absorbs red light and reflects blue and green wavelengths, giving Uranus its distinctive color when viewed from space.

Secret Word: Uranus is considered slow in several ways - Its winds, while fast by Earth standards, are slower than those on Neptune or Saturn. It has a slow orbital speed, taking 84 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. Some of its seasonal changes are slow due to its long year and tilted rotation.