Unlike other planets, Neptune’s Great Dark Spot has winds with a speed of 2,400 kilometers (1,500 mile) per hour, the fastest in the Solar System. It is no wonder no one discovered the planet until Adams and Leverrier told astronomers where to look.Īlso there are huge anticyclonic storms on Neptune, do you remember Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Something familiar can be seen on Neptune, it is called Great Dark Spot and it has about the same size as Earth. Neptune’s great distance from Earth makes it appear very tiny even when viewed through large telescopes. The less sunlight reflected off a planet, the dimmer the planet appears from Earth. In fact, the sunlight that reaches Neptune is 900 times less intense than the sunlight that reaches Earth. Because Neptune is so far from the sun, it receives very little sunlight. Neptune is about 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers) from the sun. Although Neptune is large, it cannot be seen from Earth unless a telescope is used. Neptune’s diameter is about four times greater than Earth’s. This is the length of the planet’s “day.” The rate of rotation of the visible features in Neptune’s atmosphere varies greatly depending on the features’ latitudes. Neptune’s magnetic field rotates once in about 16 hours. It sometimes ventures closer to the sun than Neptune. Of these trans-Neptunian objects, the most familiar is Pluto.

Beyond Neptune’s orbit is a region that is traversed by many trans-Neptunian objects. Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the sun. In fact, this distance is about 30 times greater than the corresponding value for Earth. Neptune’s average orbital distance from the sun is enormous. (An ellipse is roughly oval-shaped.) The planet travels a huge distance to complete just one orbit. As it revolves, Neptune traces an ellipse. Neptune revolves around the sun once every 165 years. Among the things discovered is that this planet has a thick atmosphere that grows denser with depth, gradually merging with a vast, strange ocean. The probe revealed some remarkable facts about the planet and its moons. Then in 1989 the planetary probe Voyager 2 flew past Neptune. Observations were limited because the planet is so far away. But very little was known about the planet until recently. Neptune has a rich blue color and is named after the Roman god of the sea. The smallest of the four giant planets in the solar system.

The planet Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the sun.

Neptunes gas