Neptune
In 1613 Galileo discovered Neptune when it happened to be very close to Jupiter. Galileo just thought it was a star. Neptune was first observed by Johann Galle and Heinrich D’Arrest on September 23, 1846. On July 12, 2011 Neptune celebrated its first birthday since its discovery on September 23, 1846. It was exactly 1 Neptunian year (164.79 Earth Years) on its birthday.
Neptune has no solid surface, so even if a spaceship could reach it, it could not land because it would simply keep sinking into the planet. Neptune is the fourth smallest planet in the solar system (judging by diameter), but it actually has more mass than Uranus does.
Neptune's winds can get up to 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 kilometers per hour). These winds were linked to a large dark storm that Voyager 2 tracked down in Neptune's southern hemisphere. This oval-shaped counterclockwise-spinning Great Dark Spot was large enough to contain the entire earth moving at 750 miles per hour (1,200 kilometers per hour) in 1989. The most startling feature to be discovered on Neptune was a giant blue spot in the planet's southern hemisphere. In 1994 observations of Neptune by the Hubble Space telescope have revealed that the giant blue spot had disappeared. Just recently a new blue spot was observed in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The blue spot indicates that Neptune’s atmosphere is highly active and prone to sudden and severe changes.
Neptune has 13 moons a major one that we all know is Triton. Triton was discovered by an astronomer in England named William Lassell only 17 days after Neptune was discovered. Despina, Galatea, Halimede, Laomedeia, Larissa, Naiad, Nereid, Neso, Proteus, Psamathe, Sao, and Thalassa.
Neptune has no solid surface, so even if a spaceship could reach it, it could not land because it would simply keep sinking into the planet. Neptune is the fourth smallest planet in the solar system (judging by diameter), but it actually has more mass than Uranus does.
Neptune's winds can get up to 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 kilometers per hour). These winds were linked to a large dark storm that Voyager 2 tracked down in Neptune's southern hemisphere. This oval-shaped counterclockwise-spinning Great Dark Spot was large enough to contain the entire earth moving at 750 miles per hour (1,200 kilometers per hour) in 1989. The most startling feature to be discovered on Neptune was a giant blue spot in the planet's southern hemisphere. In 1994 observations of Neptune by the Hubble Space telescope have revealed that the giant blue spot had disappeared. Just recently a new blue spot was observed in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The blue spot indicates that Neptune’s atmosphere is highly active and prone to sudden and severe changes.
Neptune has 13 moons a major one that we all know is Triton. Triton was discovered by an astronomer in England named William Lassell only 17 days after Neptune was discovered. Despina, Galatea, Halimede, Laomedeia, Larissa, Naiad, Nereid, Neso, Proteus, Psamathe, Sao, and Thalassa.
Neptune's Blue Spot
Neptune's cloud cover has an especially vivid blue tint that is partly due to an as yet unidentified compound and the result is an absorption of red light by methane in the planets mostly hydrogen-helium atmosphere. Some photos of Neptune reveal a blue planet and is often dubbed as an ice giant since it possesses a thick, slushy fluid mix of water, ammonia, and methane under its atmosphere.
Neptune's Rings
The planet also has six rings, although they are not as spectacular as Saturn’s are. Neptune’s rings are actually faint and somewhat hard to see. Scientists were not actually positive that the planet had rings until a probe passed by and was able to confirm it. The scientists gave the rings names; they are Adams, next is an un-named ring co-orbital with Galatea, then Leverrier, and finally the faint but broad Galle.
Resources:
http://nineplanets.org/neptune.html
http://www.aerospaceguide.net/planet/planetneptune.html
http://airandspace.si.edu/etp/neptune/
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neptune-article/
http://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html
http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/neptune.htm
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/neptune.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/neptune/
http://www.universetoday.com/21581/neptune
http://nineplanets.org/neptune.html
http://www.aerospaceguide.net/planet/planetneptune.html
http://airandspace.si.edu/etp/neptune/
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neptune-article/
http://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html
http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/neptune.htm
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/neptune.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/neptune/
http://www.universetoday.com/21581/neptune