22 FAQs : Uranus, Neptune, 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

 Back to the Astronomy Cafe - 365 of the most popular questions since 1996. Over 1 million page requests!

Beginner:

  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. How big is Uranus?
  4. When did Herschell discover the satellites of Uranus: Titania and Oberon?
  5. Which planet was named after King George III of England?
  6. What is the most distant planet you can see with the naked eye?
  7. What have been the historical estimates for the mass of Pluto?
  8. Why is Uranus tilted on its side unlike the Earth?
  9. Will Triton someday crash into Neptune because it rotates backwards?
  10. Does Neptune have oxygen in its atmosphere?
  11. How bright is the Sun as seen from Pluto at perihelion?
  12. Could you give some details about Pluto?
  13. What objects have been explored outside Pluto's orbit?
  14. If the orbits of Neptune and Pluto intersect, will they ever collide?
  15. Is there any truth to the hypothesis that Pluto is a comet not a true planet?
  16. How often do the orbits of Neptune and Pluto cross?
  17. Has Pluto been demoted to the status of a non-planet?

Intermediate:

  1. Is Pluto no longer considered a planet in 1999?
  2. Will Pluto and Neptune ever collide?
  3. Why does Neptune emit more energy than it receives from the Sun?
  4. Why are Neptune's rings less dense on one side of the planet than the other?
  5. Where is the center of mass of the Pluto-Charon system located?

 

Return to Ask the Astronomer