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Ice Giant Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos and animations, images, and posters. This resource package is suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in learning more about the ice giant planets!

A light blue-green circle represents the planet Uranus (at left). A dark blue circle with white wispy clouds at the center represents the planet Neptune (at right).

Discover the Ice Giants

In addition to the resources on this page, follow along with updates on the ice giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, through @NASASolarSystem on your preferred social media platform.

Uranus Animations and Videos
Uranus Images
Neptune Animations and Videos
Neptune Images
Activities
Posters
NASA Uranus main page

Uranus

Learn more about Uranus, a very cold and windy planet that rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its side.

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Uranus is depicted in blues and pinks, encircled by a near vertical white ring. The blue and white colors represent optical data obtained by the Keck-1 Telescope, and the pink represents X-ray data gathered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The blues, which appear as blended, near vertical stripes, range from midnight blue at our right, to teal and even neon sky blue at our left. Across the right half of the planet is a teardrop-shaped patch of neon pink. Several pale blue dots mark the surface of the planet, though none appear in the hot pink patch. The near vertical ring, which is slightly tipped toward our upper-right, is quite thin. It appears white when set against the black background, and pink when it passes in front of the planet's pink patch.
Astronomers detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, is an ice giant planet in the outer solar system. Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and its rings appear to mainly produce X-rays by scattering solar X-rays, but some may also come from auroras.
X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al; Infrared: W.M. Keck Observatory

Uranus Animations and Videos

A dimly lit crescent of planet Uranus.

Exploring Planet Uranus

Discover the planet Uranus, as well as its rings and moons, and learn how it can help us unlock some of the remaining mysteries of our universe.

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A blue-green orb is shown surrounded by multiple thin yellow-brown rings.

Uranus Animations

Check out this page for a variety of Uranus-related animations.

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Image of blue Uranus, with three purple marks in it. Surrounding Uranus is a ring.

Dancing Uranus

In the dance of our solar system, one planet has moves like no other. Find out how Uranus's tilt puts it in a league all its own.

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NASA neptune main page

Neptune

Learn more about Neptune, the windiest (with wind speeds of more than 1,200 miles per hour or 2,000 kilometers per hour) and most distant planet in the solar system.

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Blue Neptune and its storms as seen from a spacecraft.
This photograph of Neptune was reconstructed from two images taken by Voyager 2's narrow-angle camera. The image shows three features: At the north (top) is the Great Dark Spot, accompanied by bright, white clouds that undergo rapid changes in appearance. To the south of the Great Dark Spot is the bright feature that Voyager scientists have nicknamed "Scooter." Still farther south is the feature called "Dark Spot 2," which has a bright core. Each feature moves eastward at a different velocity, so it is only occasionally that they appear close to each other, such as at the time this picture was taken.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Neptune Animations and Videos

A light blue crescent shape with a darker blue background.

Cosmic Cycles: Planetary Fantasia

Discover the planets in this unique fusion of music and science.

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Sphere of Neptune seen. Dark blue circle with two small dark spots on the Northern portion.

Neptune's Disappearing Clouds Linked to the Solar Cycle

Discover how the Sun's 11-year solar cycle is playing a role in Neptune's cloud abundance, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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A tan sphere is shown blocking out a portion of the blue sphere of Neptune in the background. Faint elliptical rings surround the blue orb.

Kepler Stares at Neptune

Explore Neptune through the eyes of NASA's Kepler spacecraft, which detected small changes in Neptune's brightness caused by the planet's daily rotation, the movement of clouds, and even seismic waves from the Sun itself.

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Featured Story

NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets

Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our…

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Activities

Three images are displayed side-by-side. The left image shows sidewalk chalk pictures of Earth, Mercury, and the Sun. The middle image shows a tape measure with a string of buttons laying on top of it. The right image shows a man holding a card in his left hand and a laptop in his right.

Make a Scale Solar System

Create your own scale model of the solar system by learning how to calculate scale distances, the relative sizes of planets, or both. Then, use beads and string, sidewalk chalk, or your own creative choice of materials to build a model you can explore – or maybe even wear!

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A mainly blank notebook is shown with the beginnings of a written poem on the right page. A hand is shown holding a pen to the paper.

Write a Poem About the Ice Giants

In this activity, you'll learn about different kinds of poems and find out how to create your own poetry inspired by space.

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A person wearing a cartoon paper mask of the Earth gives two thumbs up.

Make Your Own Uranus or Neptune Masks

Create your own wearable planet masks!

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A circle is shown with a set of rings encircling it at a 90-degree angle.

Uranus & Neptune Coloring Pages

Color and learn about the ice giant planets!

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Posters

A global view of the planet Uranus is shown with a black backdrop.

Uranus Poster - Version A

A view of the planet Uranus captured by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft on January 14, 1986, from a distance of approximately 7.8 million miles (12.7 million kilometers).

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A sliver of the planet Uranus is shown with a black backdrop.

Uranus Poster - Version B

An image of a crescent Uranus captured by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft.

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A full disk view of the planet Neptune, with the Great Dark Spot and some wispy white clouds, is visible.

Neptune Poster - Version A

This image of Neptune was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles (7.1 million kilometers) from the planet.

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A crescent view of the planet Neptune is shown with a black backdrop.

Neptune Poster - Version B

This view of a crescent Neptune was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft on August 31, 1989.

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