Exam 14: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Kuiper Belt: Remote Worlds

Why do scientists use magnetic field measurements and observations of radio emission to determine the rotation rates of the interiors of the outer planets such as Uranus?

Uranus and Neptune appear to be smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn, but they differ significantly from these planets, in that:

Which one of the following bodies has an orbit with the greatest inclination to the orbit of Earth, that is, to the ecliptic?

If methane were absent from Uranus's atmosphere, what color would the atmosphere appear?

We believe Galileo may have unknowingly observed Neptune in January 1613, because at that time it was:

The plumes that were seen to rise from the surface of Triton, Neptune's largest satellite, are believed to be:

Pluto and its large satellite, Charon, differ from each other in that:

How did the discovery of Neptune differ from the discoveries of Uranus and Pluto?

Neptune is about 1.5 times as far from the Sun as is Uranus. The average atmospheric temperature on Uranus is about 55 K. What is the approximate average atmospheric temperature on Neptune?

Which property of Triton, a moon of Neptune, makes it significantly different from all other major moons in the solar system?

The orbit of Triton is inclined about 23° to the equatorial plane of Neptune. By contrast, all of the other large moons in the solar system are in nearly equatorial orbits around their planets. What can you surmise about Triton from this?

One reason Uranus's atmosphere appears almost featureless is that many substances freeze out at its cold temperature. One substance that does NOT freeze out is:

Which planet has its spin axis tilted 98° from the perpendicular to its orbital plane?

The orbital data that were used by Le Verrier and by Adams to compute the expected position of Neptune were taken when:

What technique will probably be most successful in the search for additional cold Pluto-like objects in the Kuiper Belt?

The shape and alignment of the orbit of Neptune is:

In addition to being highly inclined to the rotation axes, the magnetic axes of Uranus and Neptune differ from that of Earth in what way?

How were the rings of Neptune first discovered?

Which of the following objects was discovered by accident by an astronomer who was surveying the sky with his telescope to look for comets but had no idea that he would discover something larger?

For which of the following objects in our solar system is the ratio of satellite's diameter to main body's diameter the highest?