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Neptune Trivia

Neptune Trivia Quizzes

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Holst called Neptune 'The Mystic' when he composed the music for it in 1915, as part of his work 'The Planets'. You shouldn't need a crystal ball to answer these questions about the eighth planet of the Solar System.
4 Neptune quizzes and 50 Neptune trivia questions.
1.
  Twenty Questions on Neptune   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
Here's the next installment on twenty questions on Solar System objects. What do you know about the distant planet Neptune?
Tough, 20 Qns, almach, May 15 21
Tough
almach
May 15 21
3258 plays
2.
  Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Neptune has once again reclaimed the right to be called the outermost planet in the Solar System. Let's see what you know about these ten interesting facts about the Numero Ocho.
Average, 10 Qns, rigdoctorbri, Dec 28 15
Average
rigdoctorbri
994 plays
3.
  Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
With Pluto's demotion from planet status, Neptune was left as our Solar System's outermost planet. How much do you know about the eighth planet from the Sun?
Average, 10 Qns, EnglishJedi, Jun 04 13
Average
EnglishJedi gold member
379 plays
4.
  Neptune, the Sea-king Star    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a quiz on the gas planet Neptune. Sea-king Star is its Japanese name.
Tough, 10 Qns, jonthomas, Mar 26 13
Tough
jonthomas
236 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What is the main component of Neptune's atmosphere?

From Quiz "Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun"





Neptune Trivia Questions

1. In terms of the overall size (not mass) of the planets, where does Neptune rank?

From Quiz
Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: Fourth Largest

It is interesting to note that although it is the fourth largest in terms of diameter, it holds a higher density, and more mass than its often-called twin, Uranus.

2. Mars is often described as 'the Red Planet'. Which color does Neptune appear to be?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: Blue

The outer layers of Neptune's atmosphere are formed by clouds of methane ice. Methane absorbs red light, thus accounting for the planet's blue appearance.

3. What was the first probe to explore Neptune?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: Voyager 2

The probe made its closest approach to the planet on August 25, 1989. Against mission expectations, it failed to discover any moons.

4. Compared to the Earth's gravity, what is the gravitational pull of Neptune?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: About 1.17 times greater than Earth

Assuming you could stand on the surface of Neptune, you would be able to walk, feeling only slightly encumbered by the additional 17% gravitational pull.

5. What is the main component of Neptune's atmosphere?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: Hydrogen

Neptune has an atmosphere with a scale height of close to 20km. Its primary component is hydrogen, accounting for between 77-83% of the atmosphere. The second biggest component is helium (16-22%). Methane is the third largest component (1-2%). There are also traces of hydrogen deuteride and ethane.

6. What is unique about Neptune's discovery compared to the discoveries of the planets found before it?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: Its existence and position were mathematically calculated

John Couch Adams and Urbain LeVerrier both noticed discrepancies with the recently discovered planet Uranus, and so surmised that another planet must be beyond it. Astoundingly, they were successfully able to predict its exact location within a reasonable degree of error.

7. Neptune's diameter is ______________.

From Quiz Twenty Questions on Neptune

Answer: 49,500 kilometers

Neptune is the smallest of the gas giants and the farthest gas giant from the Sun.

8. The vast distances in space are not easy to comprehend. If the distance from the Sun to Earth is measured at 1 AU (Astronomical Unit), how far is it from the Sun to Neptune?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: 30 AU

Given that it is 1 AU from the Sun to Earth, going outwards it is just less than 1.5 AU from the Sun to Mars, and 5 AU from the Sun to Jupiter. The distances then start to become really large: from the Sun to Saturn varies from 9-10 AU and from the Sun to Uranus from 18-20 AU. It is 30 AU from the Sun to Neptune. To give you a sense of perspective, imagine that the distance from the Sun to Neptune is a 100-yard football field. The Sun is a little smaller than a golf ball on this scale at one end of the field, and Neptune, about a tenth of that size on the other goal line. The Earth, which would be smaller than a flea, is located between he 1-yard and 2-yard line at the Sun's end of the field. Suffice it to say that it is a long, long way to Neptune!

9. What was GDS-89 (in context of Neptune)?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: The official name of Neptune's Great Dark Spot

GDS, of course, stands for Great Dark Spot. 89 refers to the year it was first observed, 1989.

10. What is the mass of Neptune?

From Quiz Twenty Questions on Neptune

Answer: 17 times the Earth's mass

Although Uranus is larger, Neptune's mass is greater than Uranus.

11. Any planet with an atmosphere will experience winds. How fast are the winds of Neptune believed to reach?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: 2100 to 2400km/hr

Since there had only ever been one visit of any kind from Earth to Neptune by 2015, experts have had to rely on the data from that single visit, and their own observations via the most powerful telescopes available. Different calculations all place the winds of Neptune around 2100 to 2400km/hr. Try flying your Cessna through that!

12. Jupiter has 67 moons, Saturn 62, but Neptune a relatively small 13. Which of Neptune's moons is the largest?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: Triton

Triton is enormous compared to all of the other moons of Neptune. With a radius of 1,530 km, it is about 80% of the size of our Moon (1,737 km). By comparison, the second-largest of Neptune's moons, Proteus, has a radius of jut 210 km. Triton accounts for 99.5% of the total mass of all 13 of Neptune's moons. Triton is the seventh-largest satellite in the Solar System, although it is almost exactly half the size of the largest, Jupiter's Ganymede, which has a radius of 2,634 km. Triton is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit -- i.e. it orbits in a direction opposite to its planet's rotation. When measured in 1989, Triton was found to be the coldest known place in the Solar System with estimated temperature of -235 C. Of the alternatives, Callisto is the second-largest of Jupiter's moons, Titania is the largest moon of Uranus, and Proteus is Neptune's second-largest moon.

13. What is the interior of Neptune (likely) mostly composed of?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: Rock and ice

It is widely believed that the same applies to Uranus, which is why it and Neptune are often referred to as ice giants rather than gas giants.

14. Due to the methane gas content of Neptune's atmosphere, when viewed through an earthbound telescope it appears to be what color?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: Blue

Depending on when you stare at Neptune, it may be described as azure blue, light-blue, or bright blue. Of course, you are viewing the planet through a telescope or binoculars on the Earth's surface, which means you must also penetrate our atmosphere. The gases in the atmosphere create light-spectrum filters, so the color you see is not the true color of the object. Photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, which has the benefit of not being additionally filtered by Earth's atmosphere, reveals Neptune to appear as blue-green.

15. After what are Neptune's moons named?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: Sea gods

Since Neptune is the Roman God of the sea, its moons are named after lesser sea-related Gods. Its largest moon, Triton, is named after the Greek sea god who was the son of Poseidon. Of the alternatives, the moons of Jupiter that were discovered before 2004 are named after lovers and favorites of Zeus. Those discovered after 2004 are named after the daughters of either Jupiter or Zeus. The moons of Uranus are named after the characters of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

16. Neptune is smaller than Uranus, but it is actually more massive. Why is this?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: It is denser than Uranus

Neptune is 18% more massive than Uranus. The latter is about 14 times as massive as Earth, while the former is over 17 time as massive.

17. What is the rotational period of Neptune?

From Quiz Twenty Questions on Neptune

Answer: 16.1 hours

Jupiter rotates in 9.8 hours, Saturn at 10.2 hours and Uranus in 17.9 hours.

18. Neptune has rings, although they are very difficult to see. How many rings had been named by the end of 2015?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: Five

The five rings named by the end of 2015 are so named for people who have made significant discoveries about Neptune. They are named Galle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams. One of those names you may recognize... Francois Arago was a 19th Century French Astronomer, whose last name graces the 135 Bronze disks implanted in the ground through Paris, following the Rose Line, and highlighted in book and movie The Da Vinci Code. He was well known for his work with optics and theories of light, and work on the longitudinal lines and global calculations. There is a sixth ring, very faint, and which has not been named at the time of writing. The orbit of Galatea, a moon of Neptune, is believed to have created it.

19. Neptune is the fourth-largest planet in the solar system, but how much larger than Earth is it? Comparing surface areas of the two planets, how many times would the Earth's entire surface area fit onto Neptune?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: 15 times

The earth has a surface area of about 510,000,000 square km. Neptune's surface area is about 7,618,300,000 sq km: about 15 times the size of Earth. To put this figure into context, Earth is the equivalent to the size of Canada if Neptune is the size of all the land on Earth. In the equivalent comparison using the entire surface of the Earth (70% of which is covered with water) inflated to the size of Neptune, Earth would then be about twice the size of Russia.

20. What is the name of Neptune's innermost ring?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: Galle

The rings of Neptune, which were the fourth such system to be discovered, are named after astronomers who discovered important traits of the planet. They were first detected in the 1960s, but were indisputably confirmed by Voyager 2's 1989 flyby.

21. When was Neptune officially discovered?

From Quiz Twenty Questions on Neptune

Answer: 1846

Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846.

22. By 2015, how many moons (satellites) was Neptune known to have?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: 14

Fourteen moons of Neptune have been discovered by December 2015. Its largest is Triton, named after King Triton, often thought of as the alter ego of Neptune, or in other myths as the Son of Neptune. It was discovered October 10, 1846, only a few weeks following the discovery of the planet. The moon orbiting farthest from Neptune is called Neso, and takes roughly 26 years to traverse around the planet. Since Neptune is the Roman God of the Sea, so far, all of the moons discovered have been named after lesser water deities under both the Roman and Greek pantheons.

23. In which year was Neptune officially discovered as a planet?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: 1846

Neptune was first seen by Galileo in 1612, but he mistook it for a star. In 1821, French astronomer Alexis Bouvard was studying the orbit of Uranus and he hypothesized the existence of an eighth planet in the solar system. This was confirmed 25 years later by three astronomers, Frenchman Urbain Le Verrier, Germany's Johann Gottfried Galle and England's John Couch Adams. The official date of discovery of Neptune is September 23, 1846. It remained the furthest planet from the Sun until Pluto was discovered in 1930, and then regained that status in 2006 when Pluto was reclassified as a 'dwarf planet'.

24. How long after the discovery of Neptune was its moon Triton discovered?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: 17 days

Triton is one of the largest known moons in the Solar System. It is thought to have once been a planet in its own right, but it was captured by Neptune's gravity.

25. Triton is not only Neptune's largest moon, it is also very peculiar in many ways. From the list below, what is true about Triton?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: Retrograde Orbit. It revolves around Neptune against Neptune's other moons

Because of the retrograde orbit, and composition, Triton is believed to be a captured satellite from the Kuiper Belt. The only bodies in the solar system described as gas giants are the four planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Also, I guess you could refer to the Sun as a gas giant, because it is a great big ball of burning hydrogen gas. Triton has a diameter of about 2705.2km making it the largest moon in orbit of Neptune. By 2015, the smallest identified moon of Neptune is S/2004N1. Its diameter is estimated between 16km and 20km. The largest known moon in the solar system is Ganymede, which orbits Jupiter. The orbit is Triton is slowly decaying. In the next couple billion or so years Neptune's gravity will tear Triton apart. I hope to be around to see it!

26. Approximately how many Earth years does it take for Neptune to make a single revolution around the Sun?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: 165

In 2011, Neptune completed its first complete orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. It takes Neptune 60,190 Earth days (164.79 years) to make a single complete revolution of the Sun. I doubt anyone on Neptune complains about how quickly Christmas comes around! The alternatives are the approximate orbit times of other bodies in the Solar System -- Jupiter takes roughly 12 Earth years (11.86 exactly) to orbit the Sun, Uranus orbits every 84 Earth years (84.32), and Pluto takes almost exactly 264 Earth years.

27. Why is Neptune's atmosphere more active than that of Uranus?

From Quiz Neptune, the Sea-king Star

Answer: Higher internal temperature

Due to the higher density of Neptune, this allows for a much hotter core, which in turn causes a more extreme atmosphere. However, as of at least the 1990s, Uranus began to exhibit more internal heating, resulting in its atmosphere becoming more active.

28. What is Neptune's largest satellite?

From Quiz Twenty Questions on Neptune

Answer: Triton

Triton is an interesting satellite. It's orbit is retrograde around Neptune and it has a tenuous atmosphere. Triton must have formed elsewhere in the Solar System and then been "captured" by Neptune. Eventually, Triton will either break up or crash into Neptune since its orbit is being lowered by tidal interactions with Neptune.

29. Neptune's journey around the Sun takes about how long?

From Quiz Ten Interesting Facts About Neptune

Answer: About 164-165 years

By comparison, Pluto (no longer considered a planet, alas) has a journey around the Sun of 248 years. While Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, takes a mere 88 days. The Earth takes...well...a year!

30. Which spacecraft visited Neptune in 1989?

From Quiz Neptune -- Furthest Planet from the Sun

Answer: Voyager 2

By the time Voyager 2 reached Neptune, it took just over four hours for a signal to travel from the spacecraft back to Earth. It passed within 4,400 km of Neptune's atmosphere before passing close to Triton later the same day. Six new moons were discovered and Neptune was shown to have more than one ring and a seriously active weather system. Voyager 1 had earlier performed a similar fly-by of Saturn. The New Horizons probe was scheduled to fly close to Pluto in 2015.

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