|
,1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,5 , 6 , 7, 8 , 9, 10 | Return to Solar Database |
Average Distance From Sun: | 4,504,300,000 Km |
Diameter: | 49,000 KM |
Mass: | 1.7135e+01 x Earth Standard |
Gravity: | 1.05 x Earth Standard |
Atmosphere: | Very Cold Gases |
Moon: | 13 |
Axis tilt | 29 degrees. |
Neptune Year: | 164.79 Earth Years |
Neptune Day: | 16.11 Earth hours |
Neptune | has three narrow orbital rings enclosed in a disc of dust that may reach down to the Neptunian cloud tops. Neptune has two named moons (Triton and Nereid), and six more discovered by the Voyager 2 probe in 1989, of which 1989 N1 (diameter 418 km/260 mi) is larger than Nereid. | ||||||
Neptune | is an 8th magnitude object visible in binoculars and in 2006 the planet resides in Capricornus, the Sea Goat. It arrives at opposition on August 11, 2006. to read more | ||||||
Neptune | was located on the 23 September 1846 by Galle and D'Arrest after calculations by John Couch Adams and Urbain Jean-Joseph Le Verrier had predicted its existence on the basis that another body must be disturbing the orbit of Uranus. The cameras of Voyager 2, which passed Neptune in Aug 1989, revealed a wide variety of cloud features. for large colourmap | ||||||
Notable 6-year animation | among these were bright polar collars and broad bands in different shades of blue girdling Neptune's southern hemisphere.The blue colouring results from the absorption of red light by the methane in the atmosphere. Another cloud feature is an Earth-sized oval storm cloud, which has been named the Great Dark Spot, and has been likened to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Above and around it, cirrus-type clouds of frozen methane are forming and taking shape, with winds of up to 2,400 kph. Neptune is believed to have a central rocky core covered by a layer of ice. | ||||||
Mystery solved. |
The interior structures of Uranus and Neptune are radically different from what was previously assumed about these cold, distant planets. Even though they are gas giants, they are different from Jupiter and Saturn.
These two outer planets may have only a thin layer of metallic convecting fluid just under the gassy hydrogen surface. This would explain what causes the magnetic field to be tipped on its side compared to the rotational axis and also explain the "quadrupole" effect. Their magnetic fields are tipped over midway to the equator, and there are two north and two south poles, as if the field were produced by two bar magnets. | ||||||
The Hubble Space Telescope Expand |
captures the distant blue-green world, Neptune, and its satellites in this portrait. Astronomers used Hubble’s assortment of filters to pinpoint high altitude clouds floating above the methane rich atmosphere.
| ||||||
Expand |
| ||||||
Expand |
| ||||||
Hubble Space Telescope | Images have been assembled into a time-lapse movie revealing the orbital motion of the satellites. The icy moons seen in this view are Proteus (the brightest), Larissa, Despina, and Galatea. Neptune had 13 moons at last count. In Roman mythology, Larsissa and Despina were Neptuness daughters. |
Neptune Moons | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moon | # | Radius (km) | Mass (kg) | Distance (km) | Period (days) | Discoverer | Date |
Naiad | III | 29 | ? | 48,000 | 0.294 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Thalassa | IV | 40 | ? | 50,000 | 0.311 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Despina | V | 74 | ? | 52,500 | 0.335 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Galatea | VI | 79 | ? | 62,000 | 0.429 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Larissa | VII | 104x89 | ? | 73,600 | 0.555 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Proteus | VIII | 200 | ? | 117,600 | 1.122 | Voyager 2 | 1989 |
Triton | I | 1,350 | 2.14e+22 | 354,800 | 5.88 | W. Lassell | 1846 |
Nereid | II | 170 | ? | 5,513,400 | 360.1 | G. Kuiper | 1949 |
S2002 N1 | 20 | ? | 15686000 | 1874.8 | M. Holman | 2002 | |
S2002 N2 | 20 | ? | 22337190 | 2925.6 | M. Holman | 2002 | |
S2002 N3 | 20 | ? | 22613200 | 2980.4 | M. Holman | 2002 | |
S/2003 N1 Psamathe | X | 19 | 46738000 | 9136.1 | 2003 | ||
S/2002 N4 | 60 | 47279670 | 9007.1 | 2002 |
Rings of Neptune | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Distance* | Width | Thickness | Mass | Albedo |
1989N3R | 41,900 km | 15 km | ? | ? | low |
1989N2R | 53,200 km | 15 km | ? | ? | low |
1989N4R | 53,200 km | 5,800 km | ? | ? | low |
1989N1R | 62,930 km | < 50 km | ? | ? | low |
Go to HELP Page |