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Neptune

An Ice Giant

Matt Drygulski

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Overview

The 8th and last planet from the Sun

Most is known from Voyager 2

Known for its bluish color Known as the ice giant

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First Recorded Sight

Discovered by Galileo in 1613 near Jupiter, but hebelieved it was a star

The cloudy conditions of when he observed Neptuneallowed no further research

Urbain Joseph Le Verrier and John Couch Adamscalculated (separately) where they believed Neptune

would be and sent them to many astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis dArrest, two

German astronomers, saw Neptune as a planet onSeptember 23, 1846

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Official Discovery

Urbain Joseph Le Verrier and John Couch

Adams calculated (separately) where they

believed Neptune would be and sent them to

many astronomers

Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis

dArrest, two German astronomers, saw

Neptune as a planet on September 23, 1846

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Name

Galle wanted to name the planet for Le

Verrier, but other astronomers did not

approve

The planet was named Neptune, the Roman

god of the sea, for its blue color

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Statistics

Diameter: 49,528 km

Mass: 1.0241 1026

Density: 1.9 g/cm3

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Internal Composition

An upper atmosphere

(mostly clouds)

Atmosphere of

hydrogen, helium,methane

Mantle of water,

ammonia, methane ice

Core of unknown rock

and ice

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Atmosphere

A very thick atmosphere

74% hydrogen

25% Helium

1% Methane

The release of methane and another unknownsubstance causes the blue color of Neptune

A large, Earth sized hurricane is going on in

Neptune for most likely thousands of years The winds were recorded by Voyager 2 to be at

1,500 mph

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Magnetic Field

Tilted 47 degrees from the planets axis

13,500 km from the physical center

The field goes through dramatic changes asthe plane rotates (due to the tilt of the planet

and the field)

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Rotation and Revolution

16 hr full rotation

The planet is tilted 28.32 degrees

164.8 Earth years for a full revolution Neptunes revolution was observed to go

against Newtons laws

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Voyager 2

The spacecraft came closest to Neptune in

August of 1989 at a distance of 4,950 km

It studied Neptune continuously from June to

October of that year

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Life?

The atmosphere of Neptune is very similar to

Earths when life apparently began

However, the -270 to -380 degree

temperatures are different from an early Earth

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Plate Tectonics?

Almost nothing is known about the surface of

Neptune

With so little evidence, no inferences can be

made

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Rings

Neptune has a large system of rings composed ofrocks and dust

The four most prominent rings are:

1. The Adams ring2. The Le Verrier ring

3. The Galle ring

4. The Plateau ring The rings are uneven, most likely because of the

pull of Neptunes rings

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Sources

"Solar System Exploration: Planets: Neptune:Overview." Solar System Exploration: Planets: Neptune:Overview. NASA, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.. "Neptune - EnchantedLearning.com." Neptune -

EnchantedLearning.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013..

"Voyager - Neptune." Voyager - Neptune. NASA, n.d.Web. 21 Feb. 2013..