How far is Uranus from the Sun?

Today, 10 October 2026, Uranus is 2,908,092,865 km from the Sun — 2.91 billion kilometres, or 19.44 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Uranus is closer at one end than the other.

What is Uranus's average distance from the Sun?

19.19 AU — 2.87 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Uranus is actually at it only twice per orbit.

What are Uranus's closest and furthest distances?

Closest (perihelion) 18.28 AU or 2.74 billion km, next on 15 August 2050. Furthest (aphelion) 20.10 AU or 3.01 billion km, next on 29 November 2092. The difference between them is 271,713,315 km.

How long does sunlight take to reach Uranus?

2.69 hours at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Uranus roughly 19.4 times later than it reaches us.

Uranus

Uranus's distance from the Sun

Not the average everyone quotes — the figure for today, and the two extremes it swings between.

Right now

2.91 billion km

2,908,092,865 km · 19.44 AU · sunlight takes 2.69 hours to get there

Computed 10 October 2026 and rebuilt through the day.

Closest to the Sun: 18.28 AU; 2.74 bn km · 15 August 2050
Furthest from the Sun: 20.10 AU; 3.01 bn km · 29 November 2092
Average: 19.19 AU; the figure most tables give
Orbital speed: 6.72 km/s; right now, from the ephemeris

Why there is no single answer

Uranus’s orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus rather than at the centre, so the distance changes continuously. Over one orbit it swings by 271,713,315 km — aphelion is 1.10 times further out than perihelion. At 0.0473 the orbit is close to circular. The difference is real and measurable, but not something the eye would pick out of a drawing.

That is why the number in an encyclopedia and the number here differ. Theirs is the semi-major axis, an average over the whole orbit; this one is where Uranus is today. Both are correct, and they answer different questions.

Looking down on the plane of the ecliptic, traced from the ephemeris over one full orbit of 84.0 years. Saturn’s orbit is the faint one, for scale. The Sun sits off the centre of the ellipse — that offset is the eccentricity, and it is why the two distances differ.

Where it is heading

Uranus reaches perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun — on 15 August 2050, in 24 years, at 18.28 AU. It is currently 64% of the way from perihelion to aphelion, moving at 6.72 km/s.

Distance from Earth is a different question again, and a more variable one: today it is 18.76 AU, and it changes as both planets move. Uranus right now carries that figure.

Common questions

How far is Uranus from the Sun?: Today, 10 October 2026, Uranus is 2,908,092,865 km from the Sun — 2.91 billion kilometres, or 19.44 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Uranus is closer at one end than the other.
What is Uranus's average distance from the Sun?: 19.19 AU — 2.87 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Uranus is actually at it only twice per orbit.
What are Uranus's closest and furthest distances?: Closest (perihelion) 18.28 AU or 2.74 billion km, next on 15 August 2050. Furthest (aphelion) 20.10 AU or 3.01 billion km, next on 29 November 2092. The difference between them is 271,713,315 km.
How long does sunlight take to reach Uranus?: 2.69 hours at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Uranus roughly 19.4 times later than it reaches us.

Positions from VSOP87 via Astronomy Engine, accurate to within one arcminute. Perihelion and aphelion are found by search rather than taken from a table, which is why the dates are exact and why the extremes differ slightly from one orbit to the next — the other planets pull on this one. See Uranus’s orbit, Uranus right now, or watch it move in the live simulation.