Notes

Neptune, also known as Oceanus, or Janus, was the 8th planet discovered in our solar system. Neptune was discovered by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle, with the help of a French mathematician, Urbain Le Verrier, and British mathematician, John Couch Adams. The planet Neptune was first recorded on September 23rd, 1846. Neptune, with with its bright blue color, takes its name after Roman god, Neptune; god of the Sea. Neptune is the furtherest planet away from the Sun in our solar system, after Pluto was deemed to be a dwarf planet. Neptune is the third largest planet in the solar system, with the biggest being Jupiter and the smallest being Mercury ever since Pluto was lost as an official planet. Neptune is estimated to be 2.7 billion miles away from planet Earth, and 2.8 billion miles away from the Sun.


Voyager 2 has been the only space craft to observe Neptune up close. It took 12 years years to reach its destination, to the planet, despite the fact it was traveling at 35 thousand miles per hour. This single mission provided us with most of the information we know about the planet today. The Neptunian System, includes Neptune itself and its 14 moons, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, S/2004 N1, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Psamathe, and Neso. Triton, Neptune’s farthest moon was discovered only 17 days after Neptune itself, it’s also Neptune’s largest moon, Neptune’s nearest moon, Nereid, was discovered on October 10, 1846, and it’s Neptune’s third-largest moon.


According to the information brought back by Voyager 2, Neptune is mostly made up of ice, gases, and liquids. Neptune’s core is the size of planet Earth, and keeps a scorching 7,000 celsius temperature , (12632 fahrenheit), this means Neptune’s core alone is hotter than the surface of the sun. The unique shade of blue Neptune keeps is the result of the mixing of red light and methane in the planet’s atmosphere. The color of Neptune is similar to that of Uranus, but Neptune’s atmosphere is composed of 80% hydrogen, 19% helium, and large amounts of methane. Scientists calculate that Neptune is made up of 60%-70% pure ice, with the rest of the planet made of rock, hydrogen, methane, and helium.


The surface temperature on neptune stays around a average -214C, which in fahrenheit is approximately -353F. To truely understand how cold this is, the lowest every temperature recorded on Earth has been -89 degrees celsius or -127 degrees fahrenheit which was recorded in earth Antarctica. The total circumference of Neptune is approximately 96,129 miles or 154, 704 kilometers. Earth however is only 24, 901 miles which when converted to kilometers if 40074.275 kilometers. When it comes to wind speeds, Earth’s wind speeds are nowhere close to that of Neptune’s. Neptune’s wind speeds often break the sound barrier they’re so fast, with speeds up to 1,500 miles or 2,400 kilometers per hour. Neptune’s day cycles are only 16 hours long, compared to Earth’s 24 hour long days. The days on Neptune may be incredibly short, however its years are insanely long, taking Neptune 165 Earth years to complete its orbit around the Sun, In 2011 Neptune was thought to have completed its first complete orbit around the sun.


In 1984 it was discovered that Neptune had six very faint rings, this theory was confirmed in 1989. The rings cover 77,500 miles which when converted to kilometers is 125,000 kilometers. The rings are nearly impossible to see without some sort of equipment, totally impossible with just the naked eye. This means if a astronaut was passing Neptune, he would see just a collection of very bright sparks for a few moments, before they disappear. The rings of Neptune are quickly deteriorating, with at least one expected to vanish in the next century.