THE OUTER PLANETSBy Andre, Cameron, and Howie

The Outer Planets

Today we will talk about these outer planets:

Uranus Neptune We will also talk about this dwarf

planet: Pluto

Uranus

Uranus is the 7th farthest planet from the sun and 3rd largest.

Uranus is named after the Greek deity of the sky.

Uranus is the coldest planet of the solar system.

It is one of the sub-classed gas giants and is instead named an ice giant.

Location

Uranus is the 8th farthest planet from the sun.

Uranus is about 2.88 billion km from the sun and 2.57 billion km from Earth.

It is next to Saturn and Neptune.

Size

Uranus is the 3rd largest planet of the solar system.

Uranus is 4 times the size of Earth. You could fit about 63 Earths in

Uranus. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet by

diameter and 4th by mass. Uranus’ mass is fairly low for it’s size Uranus’ diameter is 51,118 km.

Climate

Uranus’ minimum climate is -224 Celsius which makes it the coldest planet.

Uranus has the fastest wind of the solar system at 900 km per hour.

Moons

Uranus has 27 known moons. The main moons of Uranus are

Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon.

By main moons we mean its most important moons.

Naming

Uranus used to be called Georgium Sidus.

Uranus was named Uranus because some people said “Saturn was named Saturn because Saturn was the son of Jupiter so why not name it Uranus, the son of Saturn?” So they did.

Rotation

It takes 88 Earth days for Uranus to go around the sun.

Its average distance from the sun is 20 AU.

It takes 17 Earth hours, 14 Earth minutes, and 7 Earth seconds to spin all the way around for Uranus.

Any Signs of Life

There aren’t any signs of life in Uranus.

A reason there is no life is because it is very cold.

What is it made out of?

Uranus is made out of water, ammonia, methane, hydrogen, and helium.

Uranus has lots of ice.

Interesting Facts

Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus on March 18, 1781.

Uranus was the first planet discovered under a telescope.

Uranus has 13 very faded rings. Uranus is mostly composed of ice and rock. Uranus’ moons were named after William

Shakespear and Alexander Pope’s plays. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that visited

Uranus in 1986.

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Neptune

Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun (8th farthest) and 4th largest.

Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.

Neptune translated in Chinese is “sea king star.”

It is one of the sub-class gas giants and is instead name ice giant.

Location

Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun (not including Pluto because it is not considered a planet)(8th farthest.)

Neptune is about 30.1 AU from the sun and 4.4 billion km from Earth.

It is next to Uranus and Pluto.

Size

Neptune is the 4th largest planet. Neptune is 3 times the size of Earth. You could fit nearly 62 Earths inside

Neptune. Neptune is 3rd largest by mass and

4th by diameter. Neptune is 1,024.10 kg. Neptune’s diameter is 49,532 km.

Climate

In Neptune the average climate is -220 Celsius.

In the south pole of Neptune it the average climate is 10 C warmer.

Moons

Neptune has 13 known moons. The largest moon is Triton.

Naming

Before Neptune was called The Planet Exterior to Uranus or as Le Verrier's Planet.

It was soon named Neptune after Le Verrier’s Planet.

Urbain Le Verrier, the founder of Neptune, proposed this name.

Rotation

It takes about 164.79 Earth years to go around the sun for Neptune.

It is the slowest of all the planets. It takes 16 Earth hours, 6 Earth

minutes, and 36 Earth seconds to spin all the way around.

Any Signs of Life

There may be signs of life in Neptune Life can be on Neptune because of

the bodies of water life may be in the water.

Another sign is that there may be bacteria in the ammonia.

All this is not scientifically proven yet.

What is it Made Out of?

Neptune is made out of hydrogen, helium, hydrocarbons, nitrogen, water, ammonia, and methane.

It is said that Neptune may contain bodies of water.

Interesting Facts

Neptune was discovered by Urbain Le Verrier. It was discovered in 1846. Galileo made a drawing of Neptune to show it’s

characteristics. Neptune has 4 very faded rings around it. If oxygen was added to Neptune it would be

highly flammable. Neptune’s biggest moon Triton was named

Triton because Neptune always carried a triton. Voyager 2 visited Neptune in 1989 and is the

only spacecraft that visited it.

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Pluto

If Pluto were a planet it would be farthest from the sun and smallest.

Pluto was named by a girl named Venetia Burney.

Pluto is not considered a planet, instead a dwarf planet.

Pluto can also be called a minor planet.

Location

If Pluto was a planet it would be the farthest from the sun (9th farthest.)

The closest Pluto can be to the sun is 30 AU and the farthest is 49 AU and an average of 5,913,520,000 km from Earth.

It is next to Neptune.

Size

If Pluto were a planet it would be the smallest (9th smallest.)

Pluto is 1/6 of Earth. Pluto’s size is a reason for it being a

dwarf planet. If Pluto were a planet it would be the

smallest by mass and diameter (9th in both.)

Pluto is the 2nd largest dwarf planet. Pluto’s diameter is 2,222 km.

Climate

The average climate on Pluto is -230 degrees Celsius.

Pluto would be the coldest of the planets if it were one (9th coldest.)

Moons

Pluto has 4 known moons. Pluto’s 4 moons are named Charon,

Nix, Hydra, and S/2011 P 1 (also known as P4.)

Naming

Some rejected names for Pluto were Zeus, Atlas, Zymal, Percival, and Constance.

Pluto was the chosen name for this dwarf planet (before, it was a planet.)

Like we told you an 11 year old girl ,named Venetia Burney, proposed this name.

Rotation

It takes 248 Earth years for Pluto to go around the sun.

Pluto rotates around the sun in an awkward slanted, oval way which is a reason it is not a planet.

Pluto takes 6 Earth days and 9 Earth hours to spin all the way around.

Pluto would be the slowest in rotating around the sun and spinning if it were a planet (9th in both.)

Any Signs of Life

No, there are no signs of life on Pluto. A reason is it is too cold and lack of

carbon.

What is it made out of?

Pluto is made up of ammonia, rock, ice, and methane.

This is not for sure because no spacecraft has visited Pluto.

Interesting Facts

Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930.

Pluto was classified as a planet until 2006. Astronomers have no idea if Pluto if has rings or

not. Other than dwarf planet and minor planet it can

be called a plutoid. Pluto’s first discovered moon was Charon. No spacecraft has visited Pluto because it is too

far away. Video of why Pluto isn’t a planet: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqX2YdnwtRc

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End

This is the end of our presentation. I hope you learned something.