Neptune is the eighth and last planet belonging to the solar system. It belongs to the group of planets known as gas giants. At the very beginning, before acquiring its present name, it was called the “Planet beyond Uranus”, eventually it was named after the Roman god of the seas and oceans – Neptune. This gas giant is the fourth planet in the solar system by diameter and the third by mass. The astronomical symbol that this planet received is one of the known versions of Neptune’s trident.
Discovery of the planet Neptune
Neptune in the sky was first noticed by Galileo, who included it in his drawings. This took place in 1612 and 1613, respectively. Since Neptune was in remarkably close proximity to Jupiter during Galileo’s observations, he mistakenly mistaken it for a star. In 1816, another scientist, a French scientist, known, inter alia, for the development of astronomical tables and the discovery of eight comets, Alexis Bouvard, while calculating the orbit of Uranus, concluded that there is a celestial body in its vicinity, the gravity of which affects the orbit of Jupiter .
Less than 40 years later, another scientist, John Adams, using the disturbances arising in the orbit of Jupiter, calculated the orbit of the supposed eighth planet of the solar system. In the following years, further studies of the ends of the solar system were carried out. The search for the eighth planet was involved, among others, by French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier as well as the German observatory and Johann Gelle. Ultimately, the French and the English competed to be the first discoverers of the new planet. Eventually, Le Verrier was recognized as the discoverer of Neptune.
The location of the planet in the solar system
all planets, it is farthest from the sun. However, in 2006, the last planet was Pluto. Have these celestial bodies “changed” places? Well no. At the meeting of the International Astronomical Union, it was decided to change the definition of the planet. In effect, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet.
Etymology of the name
The planet was first spotted by Galileo on December 28, 1612. However, the astronomer mistakenly classified it as a fixed star. The discoverers of the planet are considered to be Johann Galle, John Adams and Urbain Le Verrier. Initially, it was referred to as “the planet beyond Uranus” or “the planet Le Verrier”. One of its discoverers initially proposed the name Neptune, but after a few months he changed his mind proposing the name Le Verrier (in his honor). The latter proposal was met with many negative voices. The name Neptune began to be used internationally at the end of 1846. Like other names, it refers to deities from Roman mythology – Neptune was the god of the seas, waters, and rain. Interestingly, in China, Japan, and Korea this name is translated as “Star King of the Sea”.
Gravitational acceleration
Only on two planets of our solar system is the force of gravity greater than on Earth. These include Jupiter and Neptune. The attraction on Neptune is 12 percent greater than our attraction.
How many moons does Neptune have?
14. The largest of these is Triton (comparable in size to Pluto). Scientists say that this is where the coldest climate of the entire solar system prevails.
Neptune’s atmosphere and core
Neptune’s lower atmosphere is characterized by concentrated ammonia, hydrogen, and water. The composition of the lower parts of the atmosphere gradually turns into a supercritical state in the lower parts, i.e., one in which both the pressure and temperature are significantly higher than the pressure and temperature characteristic for the critical point of a given substance. In the supercritical state, a liquid or ice mantle is formed, the temperature of which is from 2,000 to 5,000 K.
Due to the composition of the atmosphere, the mantle itself is also characterized by the presence of large amounts of water, ammonia and also methane. Additionally, it has an exceedingly high electrical conductivity. Scientists believe that at a depth of about 7,000 kilometers, decomposing methane forms diamond crystals.
Neptune’s atmosphere consists mainly of two gases – hydrogen (50%) and helium (19%). A small amount of methane was also detected in it. The planet’s characteristic blue hue is due to the methane content, which absorbs the red part of the light spectrum.
Neptune’s atmosphere can be divided into two zones – the troposphere, where the temperature drops with increasing altitude, and the stratosphere, where the opposite occurs. Both zones are separated by the tropopause. There are also clouds in the planet’s atmosphere, the composition of which depends on height. These can be clouds of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide or clouds of hydrogen sulfide and water.
Neptune’s rings
Neptune is surrounded by rings, but they are not quite as large as Saturn’s rings. They mainly consist of ice particles, silicates and materials based on carbon. Scientists distinguish three main ones
Neptune’s Rings – Adams’s Ring, Le Verrier’s Ring, and Galle’s Ring.
Moons of Neptune
Regarding the moons, Neptune has 14 of them. In 2013, the discovery of S / 2004 N 1 was announced – a small satellite with a radius of about 8-10 km and a faint brightness of only 26.5 magnitude. It follows an almost circular orbit with a radius of 105,300 km between the orbits of the moons Larissa and Proteus. The largest of these is Triton, the distance of which is close to the distance from the Moon to the Earth.
** INTERESTING FACTS**
- Neptune takes 164.8 Earth years to orbit the sun.
- This planet can only be observed with a telescope, it is impossible to see it with the naked eye.
- As mentioned before, the atmospheric conditions on this planet are quite extreme. The wind speed there reaches speeds of up to 2,100 km / h.
- Neptune’s mass is 17 times that of our planet. By mass, it is the third largest planet in the solar system.
- Hydrogen, helium, and methane – this is the composition of Neptune’s atmosphere. The blue color of the planet is related to the absorption of red radiation by Methane. This color perfectly reflects the conditions prevailing there – to write that it is cold there is not enough, because the thermometer shows on average minus 214 degrees Celsius.
- This planet is smaller than Uranus, but heavier than Uranus. This is due to the proportion of the elements that make up these celestial bodies.
- The planet was explored by only one probe. The first images of Neptune were sent by Voyager 2 in 1989. The rest of the photos at our disposal were taken with the Hubble telescope.
- 4.5 billion kilometers – this is how much separates Neptune from the sun.
- The planet’s core reaches a temperature of 5100 degrees Celsius.
- A day on Neptune is approximately 16 hours.
- Its mass is 17 times greater than that of the Earth.
- It is the only planet invisible to the naked eye, and therefore escaped ancient astronomers until it was officially discovered in 1846 by Le Verrier and Johann Galle.
- Neptune also has a ring system like Saturn. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to observe compared to Saturn’s bright ring.
- This planet is about four times as wide as Earth. If Earth were a big apple, Neptune would be the size of a basketball.
- Neptune is dark, cold, and very windy.
- Neptune is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth.
- The biggest determining factor for the discovery was the planet Uranus, where astronomers calculated its orbit and observed that Uranus did not follow their models. Uranus’ disrupted orbit forced astronomer Urbain Le Verrier to conclude that another undiscovered planet was to blame. He predicted where it should be, and astronomer Johann Galle found it one degree away from the predicted point, making Neptune the first planet discovered by mathematical calculations and predictions.
- A year on Neptune is 165 years on Earth.
- Although Neptune is the farthest planet from our Sun, it often appears in pop culture and fiction. The planet served as the backdrop for the 1997 science fiction horror movie, while in the Futurama cartoon series, the robot character Santa Claus has his home base at Neptune’s North Pole.
- Neptune takes 60,190 days to make one revolution around the sun. This means that since its discovery in 1846, it has only made one revolution around the sun.
- It is over 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth.
- Neptune is a ball of gas and ice, possibly with a rocky core. There is no way you can stand on the surface of Neptune without sinking into it. Interestingly, the force of gravity pulling you down is almost the same as the force of gravity on Earth. Neptune’s gravity is only 17% stronger than Earth’s.
- Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.
- In the beginning, this planet was called Janus and Oceanus.
- Despite being smaller than Uranus, Neptune has a greater mass.
- Neptune has six rings, but they are exceedingly difficult to see.
- The episode “Sleep No More” in the Dr Who series takes place on a space station orbiting Neptune.
- this planet is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a thick liquid of “icy” materials – water, methane, and ammonia – over a small rocky core.
- Neptune has 14 known moons, which in Greek mythology are named after the gods of the sea and nymphs.
- Neptune has at least five main rings and four more ring arcs, which are clumps of dust and debris possibly caused by the gravity of a nearby moon.
- A person weighing 90 kilograms on Earth would weigh 100 kilograms on Neptune. Neptune’s gravity is more like that on Earth than on any other planet in the solar system.
- The strongest winds on this planet reach speeds of up to 2,100 km / h!
- Neptune is the smallest gas giant.
- Due to the elliptical orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, Pluto is sometimes closer to the Sun and Earth than to Neptune.
- It is not visible to the naked eye and was first observed in 1846.
- His position was determined by mathematical predictions. It was named after the Roman god of the sea.
- Neptune is the smallest of the ice giants and is known for its beautiful blue color.
- At the top of its clouds, the temperature on Neptune can drop to -221.45 degrees Celsius. This is almost three times the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth, which was -89.2 ° C.
- Neptune is remarkably similar to Uranus. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Methane gives Neptune the same blue color as Uranus.
- In “Star Trek: Enterprise pilot”, “Broken Bow” viewers learn that at warp speed 4.5, you can fly to Neptune and back to Earth in six minutes
- Neptune cannot sustain life as we know it.
- The largest of Neptune’s 14 moons, Triton, is one of only three objects in the solar system known to have a nitrogen-dominated atmosphere.
- Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that has visited Neptune. No spacecraft has orbited this distant planet to study it up close.
- Neptune spins on its axis very quickly.
- Deep beneath the cloud tops, Neptune may have a vast, red-hot ocean of water surrounding its rocky core. But not all scientists agree that the planet is cool enough for such a liquid to remain without evaporating.
- Storms on Neptune can last from a few weeks to hundreds of years.
- The most interesting moon is Triton, a frozen world that drives nitrogenous particles of ice and dust from under its surface. It was likely caught by Neptune’s gravitational pull. It is possibly the coldest world in the solar system.
- Neptune was named after the Roman god of the sea because of its blue-ocean color. His satellites were also named after water deities.
- About 4 billion years ago, Neptune moved from the inner solar system to its present position. It was not until 4.5 billion years ago that the planets finally settled in the configuration we know today.
- Neptune is one exceptionally large planet that has really extreme weather conditions. It is farther from the sun than any other planet in our solar system.
- The planet is covered with thin white clouds that extend all over the planet.
- Neptune was not discovered solely by sight but became the first planet found by mathematical calculations.
- If you look through binoculars at Neptune, it will look like a star.
- Neptune is the third largest planet in the Solar System, but it is much smaller than the real giants Jupiter and Saturn. It is only slightly larger than Uranus.
- He is one of the two ice giants of our solar system. About 80% of Neptune’s mass is made up of a thick liquid – “icy” materials such as water, ammonia, and methane.
- One large storm was photographed by Voyager 2 as it passed Neptune in 1989. It was called the Great Dark Point. The storm was as big as the whole Earth.
- Neptune takes 165 Earth years to orbit the sun.
- In fact, the planet does not have a solid surface because most of its mass is made of gases.
- Neptune rotates slightly faster on its axis than the Earth does.
- The planet has 13 known moons. The largest of Neptune’s moons is Triton, discovered on October 10, 1846 by William Lassell. Neptune’s last and smallest moon, Hippokamp, was discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2013.
- Although Neptune was not discovered until 1846, Galileo was the first to identify Neptune as a “fixed star” around 1612 using his small telescope.
- Neptune receives only 40% of the Sun’s thermal energy that Uranus receives. The excess internal heat is believed to be what maintains the upper wind speed in the atmosphere.
- Storms broke out around its surface. Freezing winds have also been seen blowing about ten times faster than Earth’s hurricanes.
- Neptune also has a small ring system similar to Saturn, but not that big and not so visible.
- Triton differs from Neptune’s other moons in that it is made of rock and ice. It is about three-quarters the size of Earth’s moon.
- It has a much deeper shade of blue that distinguishes it from Uranus in terms of the composition of its atmosphere.
- This planet has a total of 6 known rings, some of which contain ring arcs or clusters of dust particles in the ring.
- Neptune has a magnetic field twenty-seven times stronger than Earth.
- Neptune orbits our sun, the star, and is the eighth planet from the Sun about 4.5 billion kilometers. Here is a list of fun facts, information, and facts about the planet Neptune.
- It is the only planet invisible to the naked eye, and therefore escaped ancient astronomers until it was officially discovered in 1846 by Le Verrier and Johann Galle.
- Neptune also has a ring system like Saturn. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to observe compared to Saturn’s bright ring.
- This planet is about four times as wide as Earth. If Earth were a big apple, Neptune would be the size of a basketball.
- Neptune is dark, cold, and very windy.
- The biggest determining factor for the discovery was the planet Uranus, where astronomers calculated its orbit and observed that Uranus did not follow their models. Uranus’ disrupted orbit forced astronomer Urbain Le Verrier to conclude that another undiscovered planet was to blame. He predicted where it should be, and astronomer Johann Galle found it one degree away from the predicted point, making Neptune the first planet discovered by mathematical calculations and predictions.
- A year on Neptune is 165 years on Earth.
- Although Neptune is the farthest planet from our Sun, it often appears in pop culture and fiction. The planet served as the backdrop for the 1997 science fiction horror movie, while in the Futurama cartoon series, the robot character Santa Claus has his home base at Neptune’s North Pole.
- It is over 30 times more distant from the Sun than the Earth.
- Neptune is a ball of gas and ice, possibly with a rocky core. There is no way you can stand on the surface of Neptune without sinking into it. Interestingly, the force of gravity pulling you down is almost the same as the force of gravity on Earth. Neptune’s gravity is only 17% stronger than Earth’s.
- Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.
- Even though it is smaller than Uranus, Neptune has a greater mass.
- Neptune has six rings, but they are exceedingly difficult to see.
- The 13th episode “Sleep No More” in Dr Who takes place on a space station orbiting Neptune.
- This planet is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a thick liquid of “icy” materials – water, methane, and ammonia – over a small rocky core.
- Neptune has 14 known moons, which in Greek mythology are named after the gods of the sea and nymphs.
- Neptune has at least five main rings and four more ring arcs, which are clumps of dust and debris possibly caused by the gravity of a nearby moon.
- A person weighing 90 kilograms on Earth would weigh 100 kilograms on Neptune. Neptune’s gravity is more like that on Earth than on any other planet in the solar system.
- The strongest winds on this planet reach speeds of up to 2100 km / h!
- Neptune is the smallest gas giant.
- Due to the elliptical orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, Pluto is sometimes closer to the Sun and Earth than to Neptune.
- It is not visible to the naked eye and was first observed in 1846.
- His position was determined by mathematical predictions. It was named after the Roman god of the sea.
- Neptune is the smallest of the ice giants and is known for its beautiful blue color.
- At the top of its clouds, the temperature on Neptune can drop to -221.45 degrees Celsius. This is almost three times the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth, which was -89.2 ° C.
- Neptune is remarkably similar to Uranus. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Methane gives Neptune the same blue color as Uranus.
- In Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, Broken Bow, viewers learn that at warp speed 4.5, you can fly to Neptune and back to Earth in six minutes
- Neptune cannot sustain life as we know it.
- The largest of Neptune’s 14 moons, Triton, is one of only three objects in the solar system known to have a nitrogen-dominated atmosphere.
- Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that has visited Neptune. No spacecraft has orbited this distant planet to study it up close.
- Neptune spins on its axis very quickly.
- Deep below the cloud tops, Neptune may have a vast, red-hot ocean of water surrounding its rocky core. But not all scientists agree that the planet is cool enough for such a liquid to remain without evaporating.
- Thunderstorms on Neptune can last from several weeks to hundreds of years.
- The most interesting moon is Triton, a frozen world that drives nitrogenous particles of ice and dust from under its surface. It was likely caught by Neptune’s gravitational pull. It is likely not the coldest world in the solar system.
