Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Outer Solar System

✍ Scribed by Linda T. Elkins-Tanton

• Publisher: Facts on File (J)
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 268
• Series: The Solar System
• Edition: Revised
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Unlike all the planets closer to the Sun, known since antiquity, the farthest reaches are the discoveries of the modern world. Uranus was discovered in 1781, Neptune in 1846, Pluto in 1930, the Kuiper belt group of objects in 1992, and though the Oort cloud has been theorized since 1950, its first member was found in 2004. The discovery of the outer planets made such an impression on the minds of mankind that they were immortalized in the names of the newly discovered elements: uranium, neptunium, and plutonium, an astonishingly deadly constituent of atomic bombs.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover page......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
ISBN 9780816077014......Page 3
Contents......Page 4
Foreword......Page 7
Preface......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 15
Introduction......Page 16
PART ONE: URANUS AND NEPTUNE......Page 21
1 Uranus: Fast Facts about a Planet in Orbit......Page 23
2 The Interior of Uranus......Page 34
3 Surface Appearance and Conditions on Uranus......Page 44
4 Rings and Moons of Uranus......Page 59
5 Neptune: Fast Facts about a Planet in Orbit......Page 85
6 The Interior of Neptune......Page 98
7 Surface Appearance and Conditions on Neptune......Page 105
8 Neptune’s Rings and Moons......Page 110
PART TWO: PLUTO AND THE KUIPER BELT......Page 127
9 The Discovery of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt......Page 129
10 Pluto: Fast Facts about a Dwarf Planet in Orbit......Page 135
11 What Little Is Known about Pluto’s Interior and Surface......Page 140
12 Charon: Pluto’s Moon, or Its Companion Dwarf Planet?......Page 158
13 The Rest of the Kuiper Belt Population......Page 162
14 The Nice Model for Kuiper Belt Formation......Page 185
PART THREE: BEYOND THE KUIPER BELT......Page 193
15 The Oort Cloud......Page 195
16 Conclusions: The Known and the Unknown......Page 203
APPENDIX 1: Units and Measurements......Page 211
APPENDIX 2: Light, Wavelength, and radiation......Page 224
APPENDIX 3: A List of All Known Moons......Page 234
Glossary......Page 237
Further Resources......Page 248
Index......Page 256