Neptune By: Drew Guerro, Angie Acosta, and Gabby Dushaj

Discovery Neptune was discovered on September Neptune was discovered by Johann Galle, Gottfried Heinrich, Louis d'Arrest, Urbain Le Verrier, and John Couch Adams

Night and Day Distance from the Sun: 2.7 million miles (closest) 2.9 million miles (farthest) A day on Neptune is 16 hours 6 mins and 36 seconds. The temperature on Neptune is cold, windy and stormy. The temperature is about -210 degrees Celsius. But the winds will get strong at the Great Dark Spot, and the temperature will get really cold.

Neptune’s Atmosphere Neptune’s atmosphere contains: 80% Molecular Hydrogen 19% Helium Hydrogen Deuteride, 192 parts per million Ethane, 1.5 parts per million Neptune’s atmosphere also contains; water ice, ammonia ice, methane ice, and ammonia hydrosulfate. The methane in Neptune’s atmosphere makes Neptune appear ocean blue. Because of the atmosphere the temperature at average is -346 degrees Fahrenheit (-210 degrees Celsius.) The highest cloud speed on Neptune was 1,242 miles (or 2000 kilometers)! The Great Dark Spot

The extraordinary swirl of methane gas was discovered in 1989 and was thought to be a hole with white clouds surrounding it. In a string of images The Great Dark Spot seems to change in size and shape, and was later discovered to be a storm cloud, similar to Jupiter’s Red Spot. The Scooter Neptune has a white patch of triangular clouds that was discovered in 1989, (the same year that the Great Dark Spot was discovered) named “The Scooter”. “The Scooter” is found above the “Small Dark Spot” and under “The Great Dark Spot”. The patch of cloud was called “The Scooter” because the patch of clouds revolve around the planet faster than the Great Dark Spot. “The Scooter” revolves around the planet about every 16 hours!

Neptune’s Rings Neptune’s rings are incomplete and better described as arcs. The three main arcs are named after the people that discovered Neptune, Adams, Leverrier, and Galle. The thickness changes throughout the arcs and are twisted. The rings are made out of dark rocks and dust, some thought that coal composed in the rings, so it is hard to see the rings in the dark sky.

Neptune’s Moons Neptune has 13 known moons. The moons (in biggest to smallest) are; Triton, Neried, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Halimed, Psamathe, Sao, Laomedeia, and Neso. It takes Triton, Neptune’s largest known moon, 141 hours to orbit around Neptune, while Neried, Neptune’s second largest known moon, 360 days to orbit around Neptune.

Interesting Facts About Neptune Neptune is the smallest gas planet, even though it’s diameter is 30,598 miles! Neptune has a rocky core just like Earth. Neptune was named after the Roman sea god, Neptune. Neptune has a smaller diameter than Uranus even though it is bigger in mass. Neptune is the stormiest planet in our solar system. The winds can blow up to 1,240 miles per hour! That is three times as fast as Earth’s hurricanes!

BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: The Illustrated World of Space by Ian Nicolson Don’t Know Much About the Solar System? by Kenneth C.Davis Websites: solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Neptune