Uranus: a sideways spinner
The name ice giant describes a composition richer in water, ammonia, and methane than Jupiter and Saturn. Deep inside, these materials are hot and compressed, not ordinary freezer ice.
Uranus’s extreme axial tilt changes how sunlight reaches each hemisphere during its long year. Methane in the atmosphere absorbs some wavelengths of sunlight, contributing to its appearance.
Wonder about this
Does ice giant mean Uranus is a frozen solid snowball?
A science clue
No. Much of its interior is hot, dense material under high pressure.