The bluish planet Neptune is a gas giant, and one of the least explored celestial bodies in the Solar System. Studying this planet is extremely difficult due to its remoteness from Earth, but NASA plans to significantly expand our knowledge about Neptune in the coming decades.
1. Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the most distant in the Solar System, and not visible to the naked eye, this planet was discovered relatively recently only in 1846 by mathematical calculations.
2. The planet got its name in honor of the ancient Roman god of the Sea, in recognition for its bluish color.
3. According to scientists, Neptune formed much closer to the Sun in the early stages of the history of the solar system, and later, under the influence of gravitational forces, it moved away to its current position.
4. This gas giant spins very quickly around its axis. The full equatorial rotation takes only 18 hours. A year in Neptune lasts approximately 165 Earth years.
5. Because Neptune is so far away from the sun, it generates 2.6 times more energy than it receives from it.
6. The planet’s atmosphere made up of hydrogen and helium, and it also contains methane. Because methane gas absorbs red light, Neptune has a deep blue color.
7. Neptune consists primarily of five thin principal rings made of small particles of ice and dust.
8. On the surface of Neptune is a very active and unstable climate. There are strong winds and incredibly low temperatures. In the upper atmosphere, wind speeds often exceed 600 meters per second.
9. Neptune is four times larger than the Earth and the surface gravity of Neptune is about 17% more than the surface gravity of the Earth.
10. Neptune has 14 satellites, the most interesting of which is Triton, which has active ice volcanoes that spew frozen nitrogen and methane as high as 18 miles.
11. Neptune is the smallest of the four gas giants, but at the same time its mass and density exceed the mass and density of another gas giant – Uranus. Neptune is actually more massive than Uranus by about 18%
12. In 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft transmitted to Earth the first photos of this blue giant.
