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Solar System > Uranus and Neptune > Flashcards

Uranus and Neptune Flashcards

1
Q

Waht is the rotation period of Neptune in hours

A

16.1 hours

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2
Q

Who calculated the position of Neptune (and in what year)

Whose lead did he follow

A

Urbain Leverrier in 1846

following a lead from John Couch Adams

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3
Q

How many moons is Uranus known to have

What makes up the three main groups

A

28

5 Major moons

13 small inner moons

9 small outer moons

1 other one not clear about yet. The latest moon was found in 2024

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3
Q

What is the mass of Neptune (in Earth masses)

What is the gravity at the surface (earth =1)

A
  1. 1
  2. 1
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4
Q

Who discovered Uranus, and in what year

What did he originally call it

When did the same astronomer discover Uranus’s two largest moons

A

William Herschel in 1781

Georgium Sidus (‘Georgian Star’)

Discovered the largest moons in 1787

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4
Q

What is the average cloud top temperature of Neptune

A

-201 degrees C

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4
Q

In what year was Pluto demoted

A

2006

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5
Q

What is the mean cloud-top temperatures on Uranus

How cold can it get

A
  • 197C degrees
    but. . it can reach -224C making it the coldest planet in the solar system
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5
Q

Who nearly discovered Neptune

What is the similar story behind Uranus

A

Galileo in 1612. He drew it behind Jupiter, but thought it was a star

Uranus was first seen in 1690 by John Flamstead who entered it in his star catalogue. it was seen another 22 times before it was discovered to be a planet

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6
Q

What is the mean distance of Neptune from the Sun in AU

A

30.1

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6
Q

Who came up with the name Uranus (and when)

A

Johann Bode in 1850

Herschel had called it Georgium Sidus (George’s Star)

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7
Q

What are the major moons of Uranus in order of distance from the planet (closest first), and in order of size

A

Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon

In size order

Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda

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8
Q

What is odd about Uranus’s magnetic field

A

Its off-centre and massively lopsided

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9
Q

What is the rotation period of Uranus in hours

A

17.2

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11
Q

Which famous English brewer discovered Umbriel and Ariel

A

William Lassell in 1851

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12
Q

Who discovered Triton and when

A

William Lassell in 1846 just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune

It took more than a century before another moon was found there.

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13
Q

What is the gravity of Uranus at the equator (with Earth =1)

A

0.89

14
Q

How many moons does Neptune have

A

16

Two discovered in 2024

15
Q

What provides the blue colour to Neptune’s atmosphere

A

methane

17
Q

What is the equitorial diameter of Uranus in km

A

51,118 km

18
Q

What is the mean distance of Uranus from the Sun in AU

A

19.2

19
Q

After Triton, what are Neptune’s two next biggest moons

any idea how small?

A

Proteus (c.400km diameter)

Nereid (c.340km in diameter)

20
Q

How does Triton rank in solar system moons (what is its diameter)

A

7th

2700km

22
Q

What is the axial tilt of Uranus

What does that mean for its direction of rotation

A

98 degrees

It means that like Venus it rotates in a retrograde motion

23
Q

How many rings does Neptune have,

when was their existance confirmed

Who are they named after

A

5

confirmed at the arrival of Voyager 2 in 1989

astromers who were central to Neptune’s discovery

25
Q

When was Uranus’s ring system first discovered

How many rings does Uranus have (how many different types?)

A

1977, by a a flying observatory on a C141A Starlifter

Uranus has 13 rings, all as dark as coal

There are 11 inner rings and 2 outer rings, discovered later by Hubble in 2005.

26
Q

What is the axial tilt of Neptune

A

28.3 degrees

27
Q

What is the orbital period of Uranus in years

A

84.3

28
Q

When did astonomers realise Uranus was straying from its predicted orbit

A

1843

29
Q

Who first observes Neptune

A

Johann Galle

31
Q

What is the equitorial diameter of Neptune

A

49,528km

32
Q

What is the Mass of Uranus(in units of Earth Mass)

A

14.5

33
Q

What is the orbital period of Neptune

A

164.8 years

34
Q

What is odd about its heat output - what does this mean

A

Unlike other gas giants, it gives off less than it recieves, suggesting it may have been cooled suddenly by an immense impact (possibly the one that left it on its side)

35
Q

Name of most significant feature?

A

Miranda (moon of Uranus)

Some of the weirdest geology in the solar system, including Verona Rupes, a 20-kilometer-high scarp that is the tallest cliff in the Solar System,

36
Q

Who

A

William Herschel (1738 - 1822)

37
Q

Why are Uranus and Neptune described as Ice Giants

What are the ices?

A

An ice giant is a giant planet composed mainly of substances heavier than hydrogen and helium, such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

They consist of only about 20% hydrogen and helium in mass, as opposed to the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn), which are both more than 90% hydrogen and helium in mass.

The atmospheres, however, are predominantly hydrogen and helium

Funny definition of ice, but there you go (Because during their formation Uranus and Neptune incorporated their material as either ices or gas trapped in water ice, the term ice giant came into use- Today, there is very little ice left in Uranus and Neptune.)

Today the ices refer to water, ammonia and methane

38
Q

Why does methane in the atmosphere give a bluish hue to Uranus and Neptune

Why is Neptune so vividly blue given it has the same atmospheric methane content as Uranus

A

The atmospheric methane absorbs red light

The more intense colouring of Neptune is a mystery - something else must be contributing, but what it is is unknown.

39
Q

Why are there such violent storms on Neptune

A

Differential rotation of the atmosphere

The equatorial zone rotates slow than the planet’s magnetic field

but the polar zone rotates faster than the magnetic field

These differences are the most pronounced in the solar system

40
Q

When will Triton eventually collide with Neptune?

Why?

A

3.6billion years

Its retrograde orbit and relative proximity mean it suffers tidal deceleration.

Solar System (24 decks)

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