Which is the coldest planet?

The coldest planet of the solar system is Neptune. The temperature of a planet is determined by its distance from the sun. The planets closest to the sun are the hottest. On the other hand, the temperature drops as the distance from the sun increases. Pluto used to be the coldest planet of the solar system before losing its status as a planet. This is because it used to be the ninth planet of the solar system and was, therefore, farthest from the sun. However, being the eighth planet in the solar system, now Neptune is farthest from the sun and is, therefore, the coldest planet.

The distance of Neptune from the sun is 4.5 billion kilometers. This is equal to thirty times the distance of the Earth from the sun. Due to this large distance, Neptune receives very little sunlight. As a result, the average temperature of the surface of the planet is recorded as -200 degrees Celsius which can further drop to -218 celsius on fewer places.

On the contrary, the interior of the planet is much warmer than the surface. In fact, it is as hot as the sun with a temperature of 7000 degrees Celsius. This is because of the huge difference of temperature between the surface and the interior parts of the planet. Also because of this phenomenon, wind storms are created on Neptune which are so powerful that the speed of the wind can reach up to 2,100 kilometers per hour. With this speed, the wind storms of Neptune are the fastest in the whole solar system.

Due to a high temperature at the surface of Neptune, clouds are found which touch the space. However, as the temperature of the interior increases, the clouds condense into liquid. The scientists have discovered the possibility of the existence large oceans of water. The presence of these large oceans tells that these it may have taken one billion years in the formation of these oceans.