24 FAQs about Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (The Astronomy Cafe)

NASA/NSSDC Facts about Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Pluto Data (NinePlanets),

Neptune Data (NinePlanets),

Uranus Data (NinePlanets)

JPL Mission Archive

Uranus Images

Neptune Images

Pluto Pictures

Uranus:

  1. Why are there brush strokes across Miranda's surface seen by Voyager 2?
  2. Where the satellites of Uranus created before or after the planet got tilted?
  3. Were the rings of Uranus discovered by astronomers at Kitt Peak in 1977?
  4. How big is Uranus?
  5. When did Herschell discover the satellites of Uranus: Titania and Oberon?
  6. How do you pronounce Uranus?
  7. Which planet was named after King George III of England?
  8. Are Uranus and Neptune visible just below the Full Moon on July 29, 1996?
  9. Why is the 5-micron brightness temperature of Uranus a few degrees hotter on its dark side, than its sunlit side?
  10. What is the most distant planet you can see with the naked eye?

Neptune

  1. Have there been any recent discoveries about Neptune?
  2. Does Neptune have oxygen in its atmosphere?
  3. Why are Neptune's rings less dense on one side of the planet than the other?
  4. Is Neptune now the farthest planet in the solar system?

Pluto

  1. Where is the center of mass of the Pluto-Charon system located?
  2. How bright is the Sun as seen from Pluto at perihelion?
  3. Could you give some details about Pluto?
  4. Why is Pluto so cold?
  5. What is the present status of the exploration of Pluto?
  6. What objects have been explored outside Pluto's orbit?
  7. If the orbits of Neptune and Pluto intersect, will they ever collide?
  8. Is there any truth to the hypothesis that Pluto is a comet not a true planet?
  9. How often do the orbits of Neptune and Pluto cross?
  10. Has Pluto been demoted to the status of a non-planet?

RETURN to Ask the Astronomer