• Question: Which planet is the coldest ??

    Asked by lillypop18 to Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Nick Wright

      Nick Wright answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      In our solar system Pluto is the coldest because it is farthest from the Sun and therefore it gets the least heat from the Sun. Do you think Pluto is a planet? Some people don’t think it is, in which case the next furthest planet Neptune is the coldest. The further you are from the Sun the less heat you get from it, and unless you have a strong atmosphere to keep you warm (like on Venus or the Earth) the cooler it gets!

Comments

  • Photo: lillypop18

    lillypop18 commented on :

    Thank you for replying to me

  • Photo: Alan

    Alan commented on :

    Here’s a weird thing. Neptune is the further planet from the Sun like Nick says, and so its the coldest. But because it has a thick atmosphere that traps some of the feeble heat from the Sun and raises its temperature slightly.

    Is there a colder place? Yes, the night side of the planet Mercury! It has no atmosphere to keep it hot all over like Neptune. Even though it’s the closest planet to the Sun, once the sun sets is takes 88 Earth-days before it rises again, and the surface gets so cold during the long night it’s colder than Neptune!