Neptune hasnt made an entire circle around the sun since it was discovered! Learn why the planet is such a deep blue and more!
Neptune is the second furthest planet from the sun. It's the eighth one out, if you're counting. Humans have never been to Neptune but we still know lots about it.
The Look
Neptune is well known for its "Great Dark Spot" (about the size of Earth,) which is similar to Jupiter's "Great Red Spot." Both of them are massive hurricanes. The strange thing about this spot is it seems to have disappeared around 1994. It has either slowed down or is hidden by atmospheric components.
Like Uranus, Neptune is also blue-green in color. The methane in the atmosphere absorbs red light, giving this planet its deep, rich blue color.
Since Neptune is a gas planet, there's no chance you can land on it and walk around. Good thing cuz the planet has the most
Interesting Facts
It takes Neptune about 165 years to orbit the sun. It still hasn't made a full circle around the sun since it was discovered.
Neptune is so far away, it's impossible to see without a telescope. Because Pluto has such a weird orbit, Neptune is actually the furthest planet from the sun for 20 years out of every 248 Earth years. Pluto moved out of the way for Neptune at the end of the 20th century.
It is about 11 times colder on Neptune than inside your freezer.
| Properties of Neptune | |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1.024e+26 |
| Distance from Sun | 4,504 billion kms/2.8 billion miles |
| Distance from Earth | 4564 million kms/2835 million miles |
| Length of Year | 164.79 Earth years (to rotate the sun) |
| Rotation Time | 16 hours, 11 minutes (on its own axis) |
| Angle of Axis | 28.31 |
| Diameter | 49,528 kms/30,707 miles |
| Number of Satellites | 8 |
| Number of Rings | 4 |
| Number of Moons | 8 |
| Temperature | Average of -373 Fahrenheit/-225 Celsius |
| Weight on Neptune | A 100 pound person would weigh 109.6 pounds |
