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Neptune
By: Jason Smith
Symbol
Name
In Roman mythology, Neptune was the god of the sea.
Discovery
Who: Johann Gottfried and Henrich Louis d’Arrest
When: 23 Sep 1946
How: based on calculations by Urbain Jean Joseph Le
Verrier
Distance
Orbit from the Sun: # 8
Distance from the Sun: 4,504,000,000 km
Distance from the Earth: 4,500,000,00 km
Planet Measurements
Mass: 102,410,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg
Volume: 62, 525, 703, 987, 421 km3
Density: 1.638 g/cm3
Neptune sinks, because its density is greater than that of water
Gravity: 11.15 m/s2
Orbit and Rotation
Revolution: 60,190 Earth Days (164.8 years)
Rotation: 0.67 Earth Days (19.1 hours)
Atmosphere
74 % Hydrogen
25 % Helium
1 % Methane (at depth)
Very thin atmosphere
Temperature
Average: -353 degrees Fahrenheit
Much colder than Earth and Florida
Composition/Appearance
Type: Gas Giant – mostly composed of ice, hydrogen, and helium
Internal Composition: Small, rocky core and icy mantle
Neptune looks like a giant, blue-green sphere. The color comes
from methane in Neptune’s atmosphere. If you are close enough,
you can view the rings.
Weather
Winds whip clouds of frozen methane across the planet
at speeds of 2,000 km/h (1,200 mph).
Neptune is the windiest planet.
Rings
Most of the rings are faint arcs and were discovered in 1989.
There are at least 9 rings. They are a faint, whitish color and
are made of stars.
Moons
There are 13 moons (8 of which are named):
Naiad – discovered 1989
Thalassa – discovered 1989
Despina – discovered 1989
Galatea – discovered 1989
Larissa – discovered 1989
Proteus – discovered 1989 – dotted with craters
Triton – discovered 1846 – retrograde orbit
Nereid – discovered 1949 – irregular shape
Water
There is no known evidence of water on Neptune.
What would happen to
a human?
Since there is no surface, the only safe way would be in
a secure aircraft in a flyby. However, it would take a long
time to get to Neptune in the first place.
Something Special
#1. Due to Pluto’s strange orbit, it is sometimes closer to
Earth, and, thus, the sun, than Neptune.
#2. If the sun were the size of a front door, Neptune would be
the size of a baseball.
#3. Neptune was the first planet located through
mathematical predictions, rather than observations in the
sky.
Bibliography
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Dec. 2013.
"Neptune God of the Sea." Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
"Neptune Symbol By meatballhead Follow." Redbubble. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
"Neptune, Words from Myths." - Word Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
"Nine Planets." The Solar System Tour. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
"Solar System Exploration: : Planets." Solar System Exploration: : Planets. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec.
2013.
"Welcome to the PDS." Welcome to the Planetary Data System. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.