Facts About Neptune
Neptune is the eight planet from the Sun in our solar system. Here are collection of fact about Neptune available to us through astronomy and scientific research.
Facts About Neptune
Like Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Neptune is a gas giant. It is, however, the smallest one in the solar system. Although it is traditionally reported that the planet is the eight from the Sun, this isn’t always true. Pluto has an elliptical orbit, which means it occasionally is closer to the Sun than Neptune. This only occurs, however, during relatively brief periods.
In many ways, Neptune is similar to Jupiter. It is comprised primarily of hydrogen and has a very active atmosphere. Winds can reach over 1,200 miles per hour and storms are frequent. In fact, Neptune has a big blue spot similar to the red spot storm found on Jupiter. Neptune also has faint rings similar to those found on Jupiter, but much less impressive than those found on Saturn.
The discovery of Neptune was a unique event. Its very existence was first determined through a theoretical calculation, not by being observed. The first facts giving rise to the possibility of Neptune’s existence, were gravitational imbalances in the orbit of Uranus. Although the wobbles were noted, nobody accurately predicted the cause. In 1843, John Couch Adams theorized the cause could be an eighth planet. Independently, Urbain Le Verrier reached the same conclusion in 1846. It wasn’t until Johann Galle read Verrier’s prediction that Neptune was found. Using the theoretical predictions, Galle identified Neptune almost immediately on September 23, 1846. The solar system had an eighth planet.
Facts about Neptune:
- Neptune cannot be viewed with the naked eye in the sky.
- Neptune orbits the sun once every 165 years.
- We have visited Neptune once with the Voyager 2 probe in 1989.
- Neptune is the Roman god of the sea.
- Neptune will be closer to the Sun than Pluto for 220 years and then reverse positions for 20 years.
- Neptune is more than 2 billion miles from the Sun.
- The largest storm on Neptune is known as the Great Dark Spot and would nearly cover the Earth if on our planet.
- The Great Dark Spot has not appeared on recent Hubble Telescope images. It is unclear if this means the storm has died or is on the other side of the planet.
- A Neptune day is equivalent to 16 hours on Earth.
- Neptune is about four time the size of Earth.
- Neptune has an atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia.
- The atmosphere of Neptune is similar to Jupiter with massive wind movements.
- Neptune has three rings similar to Jupiter and named Adams, Leverrier and Galle after the two individuals that predicted its existence and the one who actually found it.
- Neptune has one larger moon, Triton, and seven smaller moons that are not much bigger than asteroids.
- Triton is nearly the size of our moon, but rotates in the opposite direction of the rotation of Neptune.
- The smaller moons are Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa and Proteus. The Eighth moon has no name as of yet.
- The moons are all named after Greek gods and such of the sea.
Nearly all of our facts about Neptune were developed when Voyager 2 bypassed it in 1989. No new missions are planned, which means we probably will not learn any more definitive facts about Neptune for some time.
