It’s on the other end of the scale to the gas giants of Uranus and Neptune. Where would I most like to visit? That would probably be Venus. Uranus has methane in its atmosphere too, but not as much as Neptune, so Neptune can stay a little warmer than Uranus can. But the second is the methane in Neptune’s atmosphere, on Earth methane is known as a greenhouse gas, it is good at trapping heat like a nice jumper keeps you warm. There are two main reasons scientists think this is the case First, at these distances from the Sun there isn’t much heat to warm either of the planets, some heat comes from the planet's core, a bit like how the Earth’s core is hotter than its surface. The lowest temperature recorded there was minus 224 degrees Celsius. The coldest planet in our solar system on record goes to Uranus which is closer to the Sun and ‘only’ about 20 times further away from the Sun than the Earth is. The gases that remain in the atmosphere are mainly hydrogen and helium with a little bit of methane, which gives Neptune its vivid blue colour as seen in the Voyager 2 probe images (the only spacecraft ever to have flown close to Neptune as it is more than 30 times further from the Sun than the Earth is). Neptune’s gas clouds have an average temperature of 214 degrees below zero ( -214 ✬ ) which is easily cold enough to turn the two major gas elements in the Earth’s atmosphere oxygen and nitrogen into a liquid and a solid, imagine oxygen rain and nitrogen snow on Earth. It's an icy world of frozen methane just 2720 km wide - smaller thanĮarth's moon! To find out more look at our Triton section.This picture of Neptune was produced by the Voyager 2 probe in 1989 as it sped away from the planet and into the outer solar system. Geyser-like eruptions, spewing invisible Nitrogen gas and dust particles many kilometres The most interesting is Triton which has many Neptune's eight moons are: Naiad, Thalassa, Depoina, Galatea, Times the distance between the Sun and the Earth. On average however, Neptune's orbit is a massive 4,500 million km away from the Sun - 30 Pluto, as its orbit cuts across Neptune's. During its 'summer' season therefore, each pole is in constant sunlight forĤ1 years! Due to the very elliptical nature of Pluto's orbit, on certain occasions Neptune can end up being further away from the Sun than Planet experiences some rather extreme seasons, each lasting 41 years. Neptune's rotational axis is tilted at a large 30° to the plain of its solar orbit, and consequently the When viewed from Earth, faint arcs were spotted around Neptune, but Voyager showed that there areĪctually three complete rings around the planet, which vary in thickness. Visited by the Voyager space probe, which made many interesting discoveries, for instance it cleared up the Not much was known about Neptune before it was Unlike the Red Spot though, it seems to have recently vanished from view, leaving Astronomers unsure as to whether it still exists. It also has one 'Great Dark Spot' which, like Jupiter's famed Great Red Spot Neptune is quite similar to Jupiter in that it has Than those on Earth, and three times stronger than those on Jupiter, despite its low energy input and great distance from the Sun. Interestingly, Neptune's winds are up to nine times stronger Of elements, rather than the internal layering which characterises Jupiter and to a lesser degree Saturn. It is assumed that the composition of Neptune is similar to that of Uranus, so we're looking at a uniform distribution Neptune's atmosphere extends very far down, eventually merging into water and other melted ices,Ībove its liquid outer core, which is approximately the same size as the planet Earth. In the planet's atmosphere absorbs red light, so the sunlight reflected back to us from the atmosphere is predominantly blue. The reason for Neptune's blue colour however is essentially the same as for Uranus - because the Methane Underneath Neptune's atmosphere however, scientists believe there to be an ocean of liquid methaneĪnd ice slush surrounding a rocky core. Sea Neptune is certainly reminiscent of sealike colours, as it appears a shade of blue-green to us from space. John Adams and Joseph Le Verrier independantly proposed an orbitįor the planet in 1845, based on peculiarities in Uranus' orbit, and observations a year later by German astronomer Johann Galle confirmed this prediction. Planet to be 'predicted', and then subsequently observed. Nontheless, in 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft supplied much information and many pictures about thisĭistant, mysterious world, before it raced past it into the outer reaches of the solar system. Observed in detail by a dedicated orbiter. Of the four 'gas giants' that inhabit the outer Solar System, Neptune is both the smallestĪnd the furthest from the Sun - the last major gaseous outpost before Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
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