> What gives the planet Uranus its bluish color?And the answer: methane gas. The atmosphere of Uranus is made up of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Methanegas absorbs red light from the sun and reflects a bluish color back into space,causing human eyes to see it as a blue planet.Uranus was officially discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, making it thefirst planet to be found using a telescope. This ice giant, measuring in ataround 4x the size of Earth, is known as the "sideways planet." Though itrotates east to west like its distant sister, Venus, Uranus completes rotationsuniquely on its side. Consequently, weather patterns at the north pole areextreme and long-lasting, resulting in 21 years of nighttime in the winter and21 years of daytime in the winter. Contrary to popular belief, red-giant Saturn is not the only planet in theneighborhood that is surrounded by a collection of rings. Uranus has two sets ofvery thin, dark-colored rings, 11 inner and two outer. Its particles range fromdust to boulder-sized rocks that were likely formed when one or more of Uranus'moons were broken up in impact.Uranus is also orbited by over 25 moons. Its collection includes (but is notlimited to) Oberon, Titania, and Miranda, all frozen worlds with dark surfaces.All of Uranus' moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeareand Alexander Pope. To learn more about our distant ice giant, check out the National Geographicvideo below.