neptune

Getting to Know...
Neptune

The god of the sea among the Romans. He wasn't a very powerful god, and its origin is unknown. When he was first introduced in Rome, he already had all the characteristics of the Greek Poseidon. Despite the fact that his cult grew after his equation with Poseidon, Neptune was far less popular among sailors than Poseidon was among the Greek mariners.

Neptune was held in higher regard as Neptune Equester, the god of horse-racing and horses. One of temples was located near the Circus Flaminius, one of the larger trace-tracks. Another sanctuary was in the Campus Martius (25 BC) were the Neptunalia was celebrated on July 23. The trident is Neptune's attribute.

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest planet. Neptune is smaller in diameter but larger in mass than Uranus.

After the discovery of Uranus, it was noticed that its orbit was not as it should be in accordance with Newton's laws. It was
therefore predicted that another more distant planet must be perturbing Uranus' orbit. Neptune was first observed by Galle and d'Arrest on 1846 Sept 23 very near to the locations independently predicted byAdams and Le Verrier from calculations based on the observed positions of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. An international dispute arose between the English and French (though not, apparently between Adams and Le Verrier personally) over priority and the right to name the new planet; they are now jointly credited with Neptune's discovery. Subsequent observations have shown that the orbits calculated by Adams and
Le Verrier diverge from Neptune's actual orbit fairly quickly. Had the search for the planet taken place a few years earlier or
later it would not have been found anywhere near the location.

Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, on Aug 25, 1989. Much of we know about Neptune comes
from this single probe.

Neptune's blue color is largely the result of absorption of red light by methane in the atmosphere. Like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an internal heat source -- it radiates more than twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.

The Great Dark Spot At the time of the Voyager encounter, Neptune's most prominent feature was the Great Dark Spot in the southern hemisphere. It was about half the size as Jupiter's Great Red Spot (about the same diameter as Earth). Neptune's winds blew the Great Dark Spot westward at 300 meters/second (700 mph). Voyager 2 also saw a smaller dark spot in the southern hemisphere and a small irregular white cloud that zips around Neptune every 16 hours or so now known as "The Scooter". It may be a plume rising from lower in the atmosphere but its true nature remains a mystery.

However, HST observations of Neptune in 1994 show that the Great Dark Spot has disappeared! It has either dissipated or is being masked by other aspects of the atmosphere. A few months later HST discovered a new dark spot in Neptune'snorthern hemisphere. This indicates that Neptune's atmosphere changes rapidly, perhaps due to slight changes in the temperature differences between the tops and bottoms of the clouds.
Neptunes Interior

Neptune's Rings      Neptune also has rings. Earth-based observations showed only faint arcs instead of complete rings, but Voyager 2's images showed them to be complete rings with bright clumps. One of the rings appears to have a curious twisted structure.
Like Uranus and Jupiter, Neptune's rings are very dark but their origin is unknown.
    Neptune's rings have been given names: the outermost is Adams (which contains three prominent arcs now named Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity), next is an unnamed ring co-orbital with Galatea, then Leverrier (whose outer extensions are called
Lassell and Arago), and finally the faint but broad Galle. Odd Statistics     Neptune's magnetic field is, like Uranus', oddly oriented and probably generated by motions of conductive material
in its middle layers.
    Neptune can be seen with binoculars (if you know exactly where to look) but a large telescope is needed to see anything
other than a tiny disk. There are several Web sites that show the current position of Neptune (and the other planets) in the sky,
but much more detailed charts will be required to actually find it.

For more pictures of Neptune, click here
For more web sites relating to Neptune, click here

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