Exploration of Neptune

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/exploration-of-neptune

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the ring system?Faint and incomplete, consisting of several distinct arcs rather than continuous rings
2. What did Voyager 2 discover about Neptune's atmosphere?Voyager 2 found that Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system, reaching over 1,200 miles per hour. It also saw huge storms, like the Great Dark Spot, which is about the size of Earth.
3. Why is Neptune called an ice giant?Neptune is called an ice giant because its inside is full of icy substances such as water, ammonia, and methane, unlike the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.

Ice Giant: A large planet with a composition dominated by volatile compounds like water, ammonia, and methane, distinguishing it from gas giants.
Cryovolcanism: Volcanic activity where eruptions consist of volatiles such as water, ammonia, or methane, rather than molten rock.
Retrograde Orbit: An orbit in the direction opposite to the planet's rotation, indicating a likely captured celestial body.
Kuiper Belt: A circumstellar disc of icy bodies located beyond the orbit of Neptune, considered a reservoir of small solar system bodies.