The eighth planet, Neptune, is surprisingly dynamic. With many thinking Uranus could be its twin, the real facts of Neptune are lost. Neptune has unique amount of moons, rings, temperature, gases, and also unique name.
Neptune was discovered in the 1800s due to astronomers observing Uranus. Uranus’s placement wasn't exactly where they thought it was. They determined that there was another planet’s gravity pulling on Uranus. On September 23, 1846, the newly discovered planet was named after the Roman god of the seas, Neptune. The three founders of planet were astronomers Urbain Leverrier, Johann Gottfried Galle, and John Couch Adams. Before Voyager 2 passed Neptune, astronomers thought the eighth planet would be peaceful, much like Uranus. …show more content…
It's so far away that it takes 165 years to just complete a single revolution around the sun. On June 8, 2011, the gas giant completed its first revolution. During Neptune's journey around the sun, it and Pluto would switch positions. Their orbits crossed, therefore making Neptune the ninth planet for a few years. Of course, that was when Pluto was still considered a planet. Due to Neptune being so far away it is extremely cold. The planet gets 900 times less sunlight than we do here on Earth. It is so cold that the mantle consists of frozen water, methane, and ammonia. Even the core is made up of ice and rock! You could only be in the upper atmosphere and it still be a whopping -360 degrees Fahrenheit. A very noticeable feature of the gas giant was a large storm in the Southern hemisphere known as the Great Dark Spot. There was also a much smaller storm named Scooter that could wiz all the way around the planet in about 16 hours. Five years upon the discovery of the storms, imagery showed that both of the storms were missing. Yet, a smaller storm was formed in the Northern hemisphere. Another feature of Neptune includes it's rings. The gas giant is only one of four planets that have rings in our solar system. Like Uranus’s, the rings are made up of clumps of particles. Each of the rings are are named after the people that contributed to Neptune’s discovery. The five principal …show more content…
Naiad, Thalassa, Despinia, Galatea, Proteus, and Larissa were discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. Nereid was found by Gerald Kuiper in 1949. Halimede, Sao, Loamedeia, Psamathe, and Neso were discovered in the years 2002 and 2003. Most recently, S/2004 N1 was found by a team of astronomers lead by Mark Showalter in 2013. S/2004 N1 is still under investigation, but is believed to be Neptune's smallest moon yet with a diameter of about 20 km. Triton, the largest moon, was found by William Lassel in 1846. Triton is the only moon of Neptunes with known mass (2.14e22). Triton also has some natural wonders of its own, geysers. You’re probably thinking of the hot water spewing from these pores, think again. These geysers have nitrogen gas and dust erupting into the air. These conditions are much like the “icy outcast” (Kerrod 37) Pluto. Triton has a pink hue due to all of the methane, carbon, and organic compounds. Of Netunes 14 moons five of them are big enough to to be their own planet, especially Triton. Due to Triton’s orbit being opposite to Neptune’s rotation, Triton is believed to be a planet that was caught in Neptune's gravity. In fact, it is the only moon in the solar system to have an opposite rotation. There is certainly no life on Triton; however, if we were to take a trip to Triton there would be many precautions that would need to be taken. Of course we would need a pressurized suit and oxygen to explore. That is if we could even get
Neptune was discovered in the 1800s due to astronomers observing Uranus. Uranus’s placement wasn't exactly where they thought it was. They determined that there was another planet’s gravity pulling on Uranus. On September 23, 1846, the newly discovered planet was named after the Roman god of the seas, Neptune. The three founders of planet were astronomers Urbain Leverrier, Johann Gottfried Galle, and John Couch Adams. Before Voyager 2 passed Neptune, astronomers thought the eighth planet would be peaceful, much like Uranus. …show more content…
It's so far away that it takes 165 years to just complete a single revolution around the sun. On June 8, 2011, the gas giant completed its first revolution. During Neptune's journey around the sun, it and Pluto would switch positions. Their orbits crossed, therefore making Neptune the ninth planet for a few years. Of course, that was when Pluto was still considered a planet. Due to Neptune being so far away it is extremely cold. The planet gets 900 times less sunlight than we do here on Earth. It is so cold that the mantle consists of frozen water, methane, and ammonia. Even the core is made up of ice and rock! You could only be in the upper atmosphere and it still be a whopping -360 degrees Fahrenheit. A very noticeable feature of the gas giant was a large storm in the Southern hemisphere known as the Great Dark Spot. There was also a much smaller storm named Scooter that could wiz all the way around the planet in about 16 hours. Five years upon the discovery of the storms, imagery showed that both of the storms were missing. Yet, a smaller storm was formed in the Northern hemisphere. Another feature of Neptune includes it's rings. The gas giant is only one of four planets that have rings in our solar system. Like Uranus’s, the rings are made up of clumps of particles. Each of the rings are are named after the people that contributed to Neptune’s discovery. The five principal …show more content…
Naiad, Thalassa, Despinia, Galatea, Proteus, and Larissa were discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. Nereid was found by Gerald Kuiper in 1949. Halimede, Sao, Loamedeia, Psamathe, and Neso were discovered in the years 2002 and 2003. Most recently, S/2004 N1 was found by a team of astronomers lead by Mark Showalter in 2013. S/2004 N1 is still under investigation, but is believed to be Neptune's smallest moon yet with a diameter of about 20 km. Triton, the largest moon, was found by William Lassel in 1846. Triton is the only moon of Neptunes with known mass (2.14e22). Triton also has some natural wonders of its own, geysers. You’re probably thinking of the hot water spewing from these pores, think again. These geysers have nitrogen gas and dust erupting into the air. These conditions are much like the “icy outcast” (Kerrod 37) Pluto. Triton has a pink hue due to all of the methane, carbon, and organic compounds. Of Netunes 14 moons five of them are big enough to to be their own planet, especially Triton. Due to Triton’s orbit being opposite to Neptune’s rotation, Triton is believed to be a planet that was caught in Neptune's gravity. In fact, it is the only moon in the solar system to have an opposite rotation. There is certainly no life on Triton; however, if we were to take a trip to Triton there would be many precautions that would need to be taken. Of course we would need a pressurized suit and oxygen to explore. That is if we could even get