Scribd
Upload
40 views1 page

Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman god of the sea. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and slightly more massive than Uranus. Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft to visit Neptune, flying by in 1989. Neptune has active weather patterns unlike Uranus and is composed primarily of ices and gases like Uranus.

Uploaded by

Eranga Jayasinghe
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
40 views1 page

Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman god of the sea. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and slightly more massive than Uranus. Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft to visit Neptune, flying by in 1989. Neptune has active weather patterns unlike Uranus and is composed primarily of ices and gases like Uranus.

Uploaded by

Eranga Jayasinghe
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System.

Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times the mass of Earth but not as dense.[12] On average, Neptune orbits the Sun at a distance of 30.1 AU, approximately 30 times the EarthSun distance. Its astronomical symbol is , a stylized version of the god Neptune's trident. Discovered on September 23, 1846,[1] Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitational perturbation by an unknown planet. Neptune was subsequently observed by Johann Galle within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier, and its largest moon, Triton, was discovered shortly thereafter, though none of the planet's remaining 12 moons were located telescopically until the 20th century. Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew by the planet on August 25, 1989. Neptune is similar in composition to Uranus, and both have compositions which differ from those of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Neptune's atmosphere, while similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in that it is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, contains a higher proportion of "ices" such as water, ammonia and methane. Astronomers sometimes categorize Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" in order to emphasize these distinctions.[13] The interior of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is primarily composed of ices and rock.[14] Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet's blue appearance.[15] In contrast to the relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus, Neptune's atmosphere is notable for its active and visible weather patterns. For example, at the time of the 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, the planet's

You might also like