About 2.78 billion miles away from the Sun stands the planet Neptune; first discovered in 1846 by Johann Gottfriend Galle, the blue planet is the eighth (last) planet in our solar system. It is the most distant major planet orbiting around our Sun; it is over 30 times farther from the Sun than planet Earth.
Location
Neptune was the first planet to have been predicted in space through mathematical calculations; this is because it is the only planet in the solar system that is not visible to the naked eye due to how far it is. NASA’s Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have gotten close to Neptune. Due to its extreme distance from the Sun, Neptune receives extremely little sunlight- about 1/1000 of the sunlight received here on Earth. At such a distance, the peak of daytime on Neptune has the same luminescence as dim twilight on Earth.
Characteristics
Neptune is one of the four Jovian planets, being almost four times the size of Earth and having the highest density out of all the giant planets in our solar system. Rather than a gas giant, Neptune is characterized as an ice giant because although its atmosphere is mostly made up of gasses such as molecular hydrogen, atomic helium, and methane, it also contains heavier elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. However, it still has no solid surface. The solid core, with about the same mass as the Earth’s, is covered with water and melted ice, which gradually merges with the atmosphere. Its distance from the sun makes Neptune an extremely dark and cold planet that is plagued by winds reaching average speeds of over 700 mph- the highest winds observed in the solar system were on Neptune, with a speed of 1,200 mph! The average temperatures range from -240 to -330 degrees Fahrenheit. On one of Neptune’s many moons, Triton, the temperature has reached -391 degrees Fahrenheit; this is only 68 degrees higher than absolute zero- this is the lowest temperature that is theoretically possible, where all molecular action halts. The famous “Great Dark Spot” on Neptune was first believed to be a cyclonic moving storm similar to Jupiter’s “Great Red Spot,” but it has been discovered to likely be a hole in the methane cloud deck. Due to these inhabitable conditions, Neptune cannot support life.
Neptune has a shorter day, but a significantly longer year than planet Earth; Neptune takes about 16 hours to rotate once (on its axis with a tilt of 28.32 degrees), but takes about 165 Earth years to orbit the sun. The planet Neptune is named after the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon, who was the god of the sea. Neptune’s fourteen moons, discovered only after Voyager 2 was sent to Neptune, are also named after sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology.
Rings
Although Saturn is famously known for its surrounding rings, Neptune also has faint rings! As shown above, Voyager 2 discovered five rings and four ring arcs; the rings contain small rocks and dust, while thicker clumps of dust characterize the ring arcs. These rings are speculated to be relatively young and potentially temporary.
Much is still unknown about the mysterious Neptune, billions of miles away from us. The planet emits more than twice the energy that it receives from the Sun than Uranus, despite being 50% farther from the Sun than Uranus. Neptune’s electric blue color is also a mystery, although it is believed to be the result of an unknown atmospheric gas.
Works Cited
Choi, Charles Q., et al. “Neptune: A guide to the windy eighth planet from the sun.” Space.com, 7 November 2022, https://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html. Accessed 30 March 2023.
Crockett, Christopher, and Lillian Steenblik Hwang. “Here is the first direct look at Neptune's rings in more than 30 years.” Science News, 23 September 2022, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/neptune-rings-new-image-james-webb-telescope. Accessed 30 March 2023.
Miner, Ellis D. “Neptune | Planet, Moons, Rings, Temperature, Mass, Diameter, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Neptune-planet. Accessed 30 March 2023.
“Overview | Neptune – NASA Solar System Exploration.” NASA Solar System Exploration, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/neptune/overview/. Accessed 30 March 2023.
“Weather.gov > Sioux Falls, SD > The Planet Neptune.” National Weather Service, https://www.weather.gov/fsd/neptune. Accessed 30 March 2023.
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