Last Updated on March 19, 2022 by QCity Editorial Stuff
The differences between Uranus and Neptune are quite subtle, but this blog post will help you know the difference. Uranus is smaller than Neptune, has a less-dense atmosphere, and rotates on its side because of its unusual tilt. It also has 27 moons circling it while Neptune only has 13. Uranus is mostly made up of ice with methane gases in the outer layer which gives it a bluish tint that can be seen from Earth when looking through a telescope or binoculars. Neptune’s surface isn’t as visible because there’s no sunlight hitting it at all times due to its distance from the sun. That being said, both planets have rings around them.
Neptune and Uranus are two of the most interesting planets in our solar system. Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun, while Uranus is the seventh. They’re both gas giants with many moons, rings, and storms on their surfaces. But some key differences between them make understanding them a little easier for kids to understand.
Comparison between Uranus and Neptune
| Parameters of Comparison | Uranus | Neptune |
| System | Uranus is the only planet in our solar system that orbits the sun on its side | Neptune has a stormy atmosphere and wind speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour |
| Magnetic field | Stronger | Weaker |
| Moon | 27 moons | 8 moons |
| Giant | Uranus has a rocky core | Neptune is a gas giant |
| Rings | Uranus doesn’t have any rings | Neptune’s rings are the result of gravitational interactions with its moon Triton |
What is Uranus?
Uranus is the seventh planet from our sun and was discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel. It is a gas giant with a hydrogen-helium atmosphere, and it has 27 moons. One of these moons, Titania, has a diameter that’s 50% larger than Earth’s moon!
The word “Uranus” comes from the Ancient Greek god Ouranos (Οὐρανός), who was Uranus’ son and personified Heaven itself.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has a diameter of about four times that of Earth and is composed primarily of gas, which means it does not have a solid surface like Earth’s. Uranus’ atmosphere is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium, but also contains methane, ammonia, and water vapor. The temperature at its cloud tops averages around -350 degrees Fahrenheit (-212 Celsius).
What is Neptune?
Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and the farthest planet known to humans. It’s made up of mostly water, methane gas, and ammonia ice. Though it has an atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and methane gases. This body of celestial matter is about four times as wide as Earth but less than one-third its mass. The surface temperature on Neptune reaches -200 degrees Celsius (-328 Fahrenheit) at night time due to extreme winds coming off its atmosphere. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft was able to fly by this planet for a few hours in 1989 before heading into interstellar space after passing Pluto that same year. They were able to capture images of Neptune’s Great Dark Spot that looked like clouds on Jupiter with their cameras.
The planet Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and is so far away that it takes 165 years for light to travel to Earth. It was discovered in 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle, a German astronomer. There are still many mysteries surrounding Neptune, including why its magnetic field has almost disappeared. Scientists are actively studying this mysterious gas giant with hopes of answering these questions someday soon.
10 Differences Between Uranus and Neptune
1. Uranus is the only planet in our solar system that orbits the sun on its side.
2. Neptune has a stormy atmosphere and wind speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour.
3. Neptune’s magnetic field is weaker than Uranus’.
4. Neptune has eight moons while Uranus has 27.
5. In 1989, astronomers discovered two rings around Uranus while they have not been found on Neptune yet.
6. The atmosphere of Venus is hotter than both Uranus and Neptune because it doesn’t have an internal heat source like the other planets do.
7. Neptune is a gas giant, Uranus has a rocky core.
8. Neptune’s atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium while Uranus’ atmosphere consists of methane.
9. Neptune’s rings are the result of gravitational interactions with its moon Triton, whereas Uranus doesn’t have any rings.
10. Neptune orbits on its side, while Uranus rotates on its axis in the same direction as most other planets.
Interesting Statistics or Facts of Uranus
1. Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun.
2. It has a diameter of 51,118 km.
3. The average temperature on Uranus is -224 degrees Celsius (-369 Fahrenheit).
4. It takes 84 Earth years to orbit around the sun once.
5. 27 moons are orbiting Uranus and they’re all named after characters in Shakespeare’s plays and poems.
6. The atmosphere on Uranus is made up of mainly hydrogen, helium, and methane.
Interesting Statistics or Facts of Neptune
1. Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun.
2. It’s also the fourth-largest planet in our solar system.
3. The diameter of Neptune is 49,500 km which is about 30% larger than Earth.
4. Neptune has six moons that are named for Greek and Roman gods (Triton, Nereid, Despina, Galatea, Larissa).
5. Neptune orbits around the sun at a speed of 29 km/s which means it takes 165 years to make one orbit around the sun.
6. One day on Neptune lasts 16 hours because its rotation period (which measures how long it takes to complete an orbit) is 16 hours long.
7) The temperature on Neptune can range between -201 degrees Celsius (-330 Fahrenheit) and -221 degrees Celsius (-360 Fahrenheit), even though there isn’t any sunlight or atmosphere on this gas giant.
8) There are no seasons on Neptune because its axis does not tilt as Earth’s does so there are no changes in light intensity throughout each year.
9) It would take 1 billion years to walk across all of Neptune because it has a circumference of 24 million kilometers! That means you could walk more than.
Conclusion
Neptune is the eighth planet in our solar system and Uranus is the 10th. Neptune’s diameter is four times as large as that of Uranus, but it has only one-third the mass. Neptune also has a very high orbital speed around the sun which makes its year last 164 Earth years while on Uranus it takes 84 Earth years to orbit once. The atmosphere composition for these two planets is different too with Uranus having an atmospheric pressure at about 14 pounds per square inch and Neptune being at 1 bar or 100 a. Lastly, we can see how much brighter and larger than Jupiter both these planets appear from the earth due to their respective distances: 19 AU (1 astronomical unit) for Neptune and 29 AU for Uranus.
References:
Resource 01: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/overview/
Resource 02: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune
