Introduction
Neptune is the outer most of the four gas giants and is in many ways Uranus' sister planet. They are almost identical in Size and composition, and even affect on another's orbit around the sun. However, Neptune is a far more exciting planet, with violent weather systems that put hurricanes on Earth to shame. Nobody born on Neptune would live to live one year old, as the planet has a 165 year orbit.
Windy planet
Neptune shares Uranus' bland appearance. However, unlike its sister planet, Neptune boasts one of the most violent weather systems in the solar system. Storms the size of Earth rage continuously in the planets atmosphere. Neptune's face is always changing as these storms come and go. Winds of up to 2,000 km/hr can be found here, the fastest on any planet. These violent conditions are caused by the heat inside the planet. Temperatures in the planet range from -220oC (-364oF) on the cloud tops to an incredible 7,000oC (12,630oF) in the planet's core. This is hotter than the surface of the sun.
Triton
One of Neptune's most fascinating features is actually one of its moons, Triton. This has been found to be the coldest world in the solar system. Its surface can reach temperatures as low as -235oC (-391oF). This is a mere 38oC (100oF) above the coldest temperature possible, absolute zero. Not only this, but Triton is also geologically active, spewing volcanoes of nitrogen gas deep into its atmosphere. The moon is unusual, too, in that it orbits in the opposite direction to its mother planet.
The ice giants
The discovery of Neptune forced scientists to rethink their ideas about gas giants. They discovered that Uranus and Neptune are very different to Jupiter and Saturn, describing the outer two as ice giants rather than gas giants. They are much younger than their bigger, gassy neighbours, and so were not able to draw on the vast clouds of hydrogen and helium that made Jupiter and Saturn so enormous. Beneath their cloud tops, Uranus and Neptune may have oceans of water, Heated by their solid cores.
Some important facts
1) Voyager 2 was the first probe to visit Neptune in 1989. Its pictures took over four hours to travel the 4.5 billions km back to Earth.
2) Neptune has a dark spot just like Jupiter. This is a raging storm as large as Earth.
3) Like its gassy neighbours, Neptune has a series of five very faint rings. They are so dark that only Voyager's 2 cameras could see them.
4) Triton in Neptune's largest moon. It is so enormous that it is bigger than Pluto. Scientists believe that it may once have been a separate body that was caught by Neptune's gravitational pull.
5) Neptune's atmosphere contains much more of the gas methane than Uranus'. This is what makes Neptune bluer. Bright clouds of methane appear as white streaks.
Facts and Figures
Diameter: 49,557km
Distance from sun : 4,496 million km
Surface temperature : -200oC (-330oF)
Surface gravity : 1.13 x Earth
Length of orbit : 60,190 Earth days
Length of day : 19 Earth hours
Mass : 17.1 x Earth
Density(water=1) : 1.71
Number of moons : 8
Number of rings : 6
Neptune is the outer most of the four gas giants and is in many ways Uranus' sister planet. They are almost identical in Size and composition, and even affect on another's orbit around the sun. However, Neptune is a far more exciting planet, with violent weather systems that put hurricanes on Earth to shame. Nobody born on Neptune would live to live one year old, as the planet has a 165 year orbit.
Windy planet
Neptune shares Uranus' bland appearance. However, unlike its sister planet, Neptune boasts one of the most violent weather systems in the solar system. Storms the size of Earth rage continuously in the planets atmosphere. Neptune's face is always changing as these storms come and go. Winds of up to 2,000 km/hr can be found here, the fastest on any planet. These violent conditions are caused by the heat inside the planet. Temperatures in the planet range from -220oC (-364oF) on the cloud tops to an incredible 7,000oC (12,630oF) in the planet's core. This is hotter than the surface of the sun.
Triton
One of Neptune's most fascinating features is actually one of its moons, Triton. This has been found to be the coldest world in the solar system. Its surface can reach temperatures as low as -235oC (-391oF). This is a mere 38oC (100oF) above the coldest temperature possible, absolute zero. Not only this, but Triton is also geologically active, spewing volcanoes of nitrogen gas deep into its atmosphere. The moon is unusual, too, in that it orbits in the opposite direction to its mother planet.
The ice giants
The discovery of Neptune forced scientists to rethink their ideas about gas giants. They discovered that Uranus and Neptune are very different to Jupiter and Saturn, describing the outer two as ice giants rather than gas giants. They are much younger than their bigger, gassy neighbours, and so were not able to draw on the vast clouds of hydrogen and helium that made Jupiter and Saturn so enormous. Beneath their cloud tops, Uranus and Neptune may have oceans of water, Heated by their solid cores.
Some important facts
1) Voyager 2 was the first probe to visit Neptune in 1989. Its pictures took over four hours to travel the 4.5 billions km back to Earth.
2) Neptune has a dark spot just like Jupiter. This is a raging storm as large as Earth.
3) Like its gassy neighbours, Neptune has a series of five very faint rings. They are so dark that only Voyager's 2 cameras could see them.
4) Triton in Neptune's largest moon. It is so enormous that it is bigger than Pluto. Scientists believe that it may once have been a separate body that was caught by Neptune's gravitational pull.
5) Neptune's atmosphere contains much more of the gas methane than Uranus'. This is what makes Neptune bluer. Bright clouds of methane appear as white streaks.
Facts and Figures
Diameter: 49,557km
Distance from sun : 4,496 million km
Surface temperature : -200oC (-330oF)
Surface gravity : 1.13 x Earth
Length of orbit : 60,190 Earth days
Length of day : 19 Earth hours
Mass : 17.1 x Earth
Density(water=1) : 1.71
Number of moons : 8
Number of rings : 6
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