21 October 2014

Neptune, The Other Blue Planet

Neptune with a Great Dark Spot prominent in the center
Image Credit:

Earth is not the only blue planet in our Solar System. The planet farthest from the Sun (and Pluto is still not a planet, nor should it be), is also blue. However, Neptune's color does not come from water but from the atmosphere composed mainly of methane. Neptune is also the fourth largest planet in diameter (smaller than Uranus and larger than Earth), but the third largest in mass (between Saturn and Uranus). It orbits at a semi-major axis distance of 30 AU which gives it a orbital period of 165 Earth years. Based on its eccentricity of 0.0087, it is by far the planet with the most circular orbit.

Neptune is also known as the first object to be predicted to exist before it was discovered. In the 1840s, two different astronomers predicted another planet orbited outside the orbit of Uranus and those predictions were confirmed in 1846. Since its discovery, Neptune has only completed one full orbit, way back in 2011.

Neptune also is home to one of the larger moons in the Solar System, Triton. It also has 13 confirmed moons, and may have more awaiting discovery. And just like the other gas planets, Neptune does have a ring system.

As shown in the above image, Neptune has a series of prominent storms on its surface that have persisted since their discovery in 1989 by Voyager 2. Much like Jupiter's Great Red Spot, they are a fascinating set of storms that we are still learning about.

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