Neptune
This planet has the fastest winds in the solar system, which is where it differs from its brother. Dark blue storms appear and disappear on this blue jewel, white ammonia clouds streaking the planet's surface. Neptune's fierce winds are stoked by its 7000 C core.
Neptune Stats
Average Distance from Sun: 4495.06 million km
Perihelion: 4444.45 million km Aphelion: 4545.67 million km Mass: 17.15 times Earth Equatorial Diameter: 49 528 km Polar Diameter: 48 682 km Volume: 57.74 times Earth Gravity: 1.14 times Earth (11.15 N/kg) Temperature: -201 C to -221 C Rotation: 16.11 hours Revolution: 59 799.9 Earth days Moons: 14+ Rings: 6 Type: Jovian planet Namesake: Neptune was the Roman god of the sea and earthquakes. His Greek form is Poseidon. |
Neptune Facts
- NEPTUNE IS THE STORMIEST PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Winds on Neptune can reach up to 2160 km/h. Jupiter's winds are only up to 650 km/h!
- NEPTUNE HAD A STORM LARGER THAN EARTH. Called the Great Dark Spot, this storm is 13 000 km long and 6600 km wide. It isn't seen anymore, but is one of the spots where Neptune's fastest winds were recorded. Even though it only lasted 5 years at least, there are still countless images and illustrations showing this beautiful storm. It was first found in 1989.
- NEPTUNE USED TO BE CLOSER TO THE SUN THAN URANUS. So why did they switch spots? In the early solar system, Jupiter and Saturn had shifting orbits. This sent asteroids tumbling towards the terrestrial planets, possibly altered Theia's path to collide with Earth and changed the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. Neptune's shift in orbit also resulted in the gain of its largest moon Triton.
- NEPTUNE (AND URANUS) PRODUCES DIAMONDS INSIDE OF IT! Neptune probably makes more diamonds than its brother because it has a hotter core. Deep inside both planets, methane is heated and pressurised so it splits into 4 hydrogen and 1 carbon. Then, the carbon is also heated and compressed, until it turns into a diamond!
- NEPTUNE HAS RINGS. Like Uranus, these rings are dark in colour. However, the six rings of Neptune are unstable, clumping together at some areas and thinning out at others.
- NEPTUNE WAS DISCOVERED BY MATHEMATICS. The orbit of Uranus was a tiny bit wobbly, effected by an unknown planet much farther away. Using maths, Urbain Le Verrier and Johann Galle discovered the presence of Neptune! Since its discovery in 1846, Neptune has only completed one orbit of 163.73 Earth years around the Sun!
- PLUTO WAS THOUGHT TO BE ABOUT THE SIZE OF NEPTUNE when it was first discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. Eventually though, astronomers realised that it's actually between 230o and 2390 km across, about half the size of Mercury.