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Uranus and Neptune are two of the most mysterious objects in the solar system, having only been visited by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 and 1989. They are referred to as “ice giants” due to hypotheses suggesting their interiors consist of an icy mantle beneath hydrogen/helium atmospheres, differing from Jupiter and Saturn, which are primarily hydrogen and helium but lack the same layered structure.
Uranus and Neptune remain two of the most mysterious objects in the solar system, primarily because they’ve only been visited by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Their “ice giant” moniker comes from longstanding hypotheses that their interiors are comprised of an icy mantle beneath their hydrogen/helium atmospheres. While Jupiter and Saturn are also comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium, Uranus and Neptune are hypothesized to have a layered structure comprised of icy elements within their interiors.
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