Neptune

Discovery of Neptune Neptune was discovered by mathematics. Scientists noticed that Uranus was not always in the predicted position, that another planet must be effecting it’s orbit. In 1846 their predictions were proven correct. Johann Gottfried Galle, Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, Urbain Le Verrier, and John Couch Adams discovered Neptune.

Comparison: Neptune – Earth Neptune is nearly 4 times bigger than Earth A year on Neptune is 164.79 years You could fit 57 Earth’s inside Neptune

Neptune – Earth

Where Did it Get it’s Name? The methane gas in the atmosphere surrounding Neptune causes it to appear as deep blue in color, so Urbain Le Verrier named it Neptune after the Roman god of the sea.

Voyager 2 Voyager 2 is NASA’s first spacecraft to observe Neptune. It took 12 years to reach Neptune. Discovered 6 of Neptune’s moons.

Pictures by Voyager 2 Neptune Rings

Weather on Neptune Neptune has the most dangerous, powerful weather in the whole Solar System. Huge storms with winds up to 1,305 mph. Also one of the coldest planets in our Solar System with temperatures down to -218 Celsius.

Neptune’s Moons Neptune’s 13 moons are Triton, Laomedeia, Nereid, Larissa, Proteus, Naiad, Despina, Galatea, Thalassa, Halimede, Neso, Sao, and Psamathe. Named for various lesser sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology.

Triton Neptune’s largest moon. Only moon in the solar system that orbits in a direction opposite to the rotation of its planet. Ice volcanoes spout a mixture of liquid nitrogen, methane and dust, which instantly freezes and then snows back down to the surface.

Moon Distance from Neptune Naiad 48,227 Thalassa 50,075 Despina 52,526 Galatea 61,953 Larissa 73,548 Proteus 117,647 Triton 354,800 Halimede 15,728,000 Nereid 5,513,400 Sao 22,422,000 Laomedeia 23,571,000 Psamathe 46,695,000 Neso 48,387,000

The Great Dark Spot This was a huge spinning storm on the Southern atmosphere of Neptune, it was about the size of the entire Earth. Wind speeds were measured up to over 1,500 mph during this storm.

Composition

Neptune’s Symbol A trident, or three- pronged fork. Weapon associated with the Roman god.

Neptune’s Rings Neptune has 6 rings: Galle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, Galatea, and Adams. Named after the astronomers . They are difficult to see because they are dark and vary in size and density. The rings are all composed of at least 20% dust, some up to 70% and small rocks.

Rings Distance from Neptune Galle 41,900 Le Verrier 53,200 Lassell 55,200 Arago 57,200 Galatea 61,950 Adams 62,930

Neptune & The Sun It takes Neptune 164.79 years to orbit the sun because it orbits much farther from the sun than Earth does, it has only completely orbited the sun one time since it’s been discovered. The average distance of Neptune from the Sun is 2,795,084,800 miles .

Neptune Facts One day on Neptune is 16.1 hours. The gravity there is similar to Earth’s . Every time you look at Neptune it will be different. Neptune is the 8th planet from the sun. Fourth largest planet.

Work Cited http://www.universetoday.com http://www.space.com http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu http://nineplanets.org https://solarsystem.nasa.gov http://space.about.com/od/neptune/tp/Intere sting-Facts-About-Neptune.htm