Neptune's speed around the sun. Planet Neptune. Characteristics, internal structure of Neptune. Atmosphere and climate. Great Dark Spot and Storm on Neptune

Neptune– the eighth planet of the solar system: discovery, description, orbit, composition, atmosphere, temperature, satellites, rings, research, surface map.

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the most distant planet in the Solar System. It is a gas giant and a representative of the category of solar planets of the outer system. Pluto has dropped out of the planetary list, so Neptune closes the chain.

It cannot be found without instruments, so it was found relatively recently. The close approach was observed only once during the flyby of Voyager 2 in 1989. Let's find out what planet Neptune is in interesting facts.

Interesting facts about the planet Neptune

The ancients did not know about him

• Neptune cannot be found without the use of instruments. It was first noticed only in 1846. The position was calculated mathematically. The name is given in honor of the sea deity of the Romans.

Rotates rapidly on an axis

• Equatorial clouds complete a revolution in 18 hours.

Smallest among the ice giants

• It is smaller than Uranus, but superior in mass. Under the heavy atmosphere are layers of hydrogen, helium and methane gases. There is water, ammonia and methane ice. The inner core is represented by rock.

The atmosphere is filled with hydrogen, helium and methane

• Neptune's methane absorbs red light, which is why the planet appears blue. High clouds are constantly drifting.

Active climate

• It is worth noting large storms and powerful winds. One of the large-scale storms was recorded in 1989 - the Great Dark Spot, which lasted 5 years.

There are thin rings

• They are represented by ice particles mixed with dust grains and carbon-containing matter.

There are 14 satellites

• Neptune's most interesting satellite is Triton, a frosty world that releases particles of nitrogen and dust from beneath the surface. Can be pulled by planetary gravity.

Sent one mission

• In 1989, Voyager 2 flew past Neptune, sending back the first large-scale images of the system. The planet was also observed by the Hubble telescope.

Size, mass and orbit of the planet Neptune

With a radius of 24,622 km, it is the fourth largest planet, four times larger than ours. With a mass of 1.0243 x 10 26 kg, it outpaces us 17 times. The eccentricity is only 0.0086, and the distance from the Sun to Neptune is 29.81 AU. in an approximate state and 30.33. a.e. at maximum.

A sidereal revolution takes 16 hours, 6 minutes and 36 seconds, and an orbital passage takes 164.8 years. Neptune's axial tilt is 28.32° and is similar to Earth's, so the planet goes through similar seasonal changes. But if we add the factor of a long orbit, we get a season with a duration of 40 years.

Neptune's planetary orbit influences the Kuiper Belt. Due to the planet's gravity, some objects become unstable and create gaps in the belt. There is an orbital path in some empty areas. Resonance with bodies – 2:3. That is, the bodies complete 2 orbital passages for every 3 at Neptune.

The ice giant has Trojan bodies located at the Lagrange points L4 and L5. Some even amaze with their stability. Most likely, they were simply created nearby, and were not attracted gravitationally later.

Composition and surface of the planet Neptune

This type of object is called ice giants. There is a rocky core (metals and silicates), a mantle made of water, methane ice, ammonia and a hydrogen, helium and methane atmosphere. The detailed structure of Neptune is visible in the figure.

The core contains nickel, iron and silicates, and its mass is 1.2 times greater than ours. The central pressure rises to 7 Mbar, which is twice ours. The situation is heating up to 5400 K. At a depth of 7000 km, methane is transformed into diamond crystals, which fall down in the form of hail.

The mantle reaches 10-15 times the mass of the earth and is filled with ammonia, methane and water mixture. The substance is called icy, although in reality it is a dense, hot liquid. The atmospheric layer extends 10-20% from the center.

In the lower atmospheric layers, you can see how methane, water and ammonia concentrations increase.

Moons of the planet Neptune

Neptune's lunar family is represented by 14 satellites, where all but one have names in honor of Greek and Roman mythology. They are divided into 2 classes: regular and irregular. The first are Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, S/2004 N 1 and Proteus. They are located closest to the planet and march in circular orbits.

The satellites range from 48,227 km to 117,646 km from the planet, and all except S/2004 N 1 and Proteus orbit the planet in less than its orbital period (0.6713 days). According to parameters: 96 x 60 x 52 km and 1.9 × 10 17 kg (Naiad) to 436 x 416 x 402 km and 5.035 × 10 17 kg (Proteus).

All satellites, except Proteus and Larissa, are elongated in shape. Spectral analysis shows that they were formed from water ice mixed with dark material.

The irregular ones follow inclined eccentric or retrograde orbits and live at great distances. The exception is Triton, which orbits Neptune in a circular orbital path.

In the list of irregulars one can find Triton, Nereids, Halimeda, Sao, Laomedea, Neso and Psamatha. In terms of size and mass, they are practically stable: from 40 km in diameter and 1.5 × 10 16 kg in mass (Psamapha) to 62 km and 9 x 10 16 kg (Halimeda).

Triton and the Nereids are considered separately because they are the largest irregular moons in the system. Triton contains 99.5% of Neptune's orbital mass.

They rotate close to the planet and have unusual eccentricities: Triton has an almost perfect circle, and Nereid has the most eccentric one.

Neptune's largest satellite is Triton. Its diameter covers 2700 km, and its mass is 2.1 x 10 22 kg. Its size is sufficient to achieve hydrostatic balance. Triton moves along a retrograde and quasi-circular path. It is filled with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and water ice. Albedo is more than 70%, therefore it is considered one of the brightest objects. The surface appears reddish. It is also surprising because it has its own atmospheric layer.

The density of the satellite is 2 g/cm 3, which means 2/3 of the mass is given to rocks. Liquid water and an underground ocean may also be present. In the south there is a large polar cap, ancient crater scars, canyons and ledges.

It is believed that Triton was attracted by gravity and was previously considered part of the Kuiper belt. Tidal attraction leads to convergence. A collision between the planet and the satellite may occur in 3.6 billion years.

Nereid is the third largest in the lunar family. Rotates in a prograde but extremely eccentric orbit. The spectroscope found ice on the surface. Perhaps it is the chaotic rotation and elongated shape that lead to irregular changes in apparent magnitude.

Atmosphere and temperature of the planet Neptune

At its higher elevation, Neptune's atmosphere consists of hydrogen (80%) and helium (19%) with minor methane traces. The blue tint occurs because methane absorbs red light. The atmosphere is divided into two main spheres: the troposphere and the stratosphere. Between them there is a tropopause with a pressure of 0.1 bar.

Spectral analysis shows that the stratosphere is hazy due to the accumulation of mixtures created by the contact of UV rays and methane. It contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.

So far, no one can explain why the thermosphere is heated to 476.85°C. Neptune is extremely far from the star, so a different heating mechanism is needed. This could be the contact of the atmosphere with ions in the magnetic field or gravitational waves of the planet itself.

Neptune does not have a solid surface, so the atmosphere rotates differentially. The equatorial part rotates with a period of 18 hours, the magnetic field - 16.1 hours, and the polar zone - 12 hours. This is why strong winds occur. Three large ones were recorded by Voyager 2 in 1989.

The first storm extended over 13,000 x 6,600 km and looked like Jupiter's Great Red Spot. In 1994, the Hubble telescope tried to find the Great Dark Spot, but it was not there. But a new one has formed on the territory of the northern hemisphere.

Scooter is another storm represented by light cloud cover. They are located south of the Great Dark Spot. In 1989, the Little Dark Spot was also noticed. At first it seemed completely dark, but when the device got closer, it was possible to detect a bright core.

Rings of the planet Neptune

The planet Neptune has 5 rings named after scientists: Halle, Le Verrier, Lascelles, Arago and Adams. They are represented by dust (20%) and small fragments of rock. They are difficult to find because they lack brightness and differ in size and density.

Johann Halle was the first to examine the planet with a magnifying instrument. The ring comes first and is 41,000-43,000 km away from Neptune. Le Verrier is only 113 km wide.

At a distance of 53200-57200 km with a width of 4000 km there is the Lascelles Ring. This is the widest ring. The scientist found Triton 17 days after the discovery of the planet.

The Arago ring, located 57,200 km, extends for 100 km. François Arago mentored Le Verrier and was active in the planet debate.

Adams is only 35 km wide. But this ring is Neptune's brightest and is easy to find. It has five arcs, three of which are called Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood. It is believed that the arcs were gravitationally captured by Galatea, located inside the ring. Take a look at the photo of Neptune's rings.

The rings are dark and made from organic compounds. Holds a lot of dust. It is believed that these are young formations.

History of the study of the planet Neptune

Neptune was not recorded until the 19th century. Although, if you carefully examine Galileo’s sketches from 1612, you will notice that the dots point to the location of the ice giant. So before, the planet was simply mistaken for a star.

In 1821, Alexis Bouvard produced diagrams showing the orbital path of Uranus. But further review showed deviations from the drawing, so the scientist thought that there was a large body nearby influencing the path.

John Adams began a detailed study of the orbital passage of Uranus in 1843. Regardless of him in 1845-1846. Urbe Le Verrier worked. He shared his knowledge with Johann Halle at the Berlin Observatory. The latter confirmed that there was something big nearby.

The discovery of the planet Neptune caused much controversy regarding its discoverer. But the scientific world recognized the merits of Le Verrier and Adams. But in 1998 it was considered that the first one had done more.

At first, Le Verrier proposed naming the object in his honor, which caused a lot of indignation. But his second proposal (Neptune) became the modern name. The fact is that it fit into the traditions of the name. Below is a map of Neptune.

Map of the surface of the planet Neptune

Click on the image to enlarge it

Neptune is the eighth and outermost planet in the solar system. Neptune is also the fourth largest planet in diameter and third largest in mass. The mass of Neptune is 17.2 times, and the diameter of the equator is 3.9 times greater than that of the Earth. The planet was named after the Roman god of the seas.
Discovered on September 23, 1846, Neptune became the first planet discovered through mathematical calculations rather than through regular observations. The discovery of unforeseen changes in the orbit of Uranus gave rise to the hypothesis of an unknown planet, the gravitational disturbing influence of which caused them. Neptune was found within its predicted position. Soon its satellite Triton was discovered, but the remaining 13 satellites known today were unknown until the 20th century. Neptune has only been visited by one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew close to the planet on August 25, 1989.

Neptune is similar in composition to Uranus, and both planets differ in composition from the larger giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Sometimes Uranus and Neptune are placed in a separate category of "ice giants." Neptune's atmosphere, like that of Jupiter and Saturn, consists mainly of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, but contains a higher proportion of ices: water, ammonia, and methane. Neptune's core, like Uranus, consists mainly of ice and rock. Traces of methane in the outer layers of the atmosphere are, in part, responsible for the planet's blue color.

Planet Discovery:
Discoverer	Urbain Le Verrier, Johann Halle, Heinrich d'Arre
Opening place	Berlin
opening date	September 23, 1846
Detection method	calculation
Orbital characteristics:
Perihelion	4,452,940,833 km (29.76607095 AU)
Aphelion	4,553,946,490 km (30.44125206 AU)
Major axle shaft	4,503,443,661 km (30.10366151 AU)
Orbital eccentricity	0,011214269
Sidereal period of revolution	60,190.03 days (164.79 years)
Synodic period of revolution	367.49 days
Orbital speed	5.4349 km/s
Average anomaly	267.767281°
Mood	1.767975° (6.43° relative to the solar equator)
Longitude of the ascending node	131.794310°
Periapsis argument	265.646853°
Satellites	14
Physical characteristics:
Polar compression	0.0171 ± 0.0013
Equatorial radius	24,764 ± 15 km
Polar radius	24,341 ± 30 km
Surface area	7.6408 10 9 km 2
Volume	6.254 10 13 km 3
Weight	1.0243 10 26 kg
Average density	1.638 g/cm 3
Acceleration of free fall at the equator	11.15 m/s 2 (1.14 g)
Second escape velocity	23.5 km/s
Equatorial rotation speed	2.68 km/s (9648 km/h)
Rotation period	0.6653 days (15 hours 57 minutes 59 seconds)
Axis tilt	28.32°
Right ascension of the north pole	19h 57m 20s
North pole declination	42.950°
Albedo	0.29 (Bond), 0.41 (geom.)
Apparent magnitude	8.0-7.78m
Angular diameter	2,2"-2,4"
Temperature:
level 1 bar	72 K (about -200 °C)
0.1 bar (tropopause)	55 K
Atmosphere:
Compound:	80±3.2% hydrogen (H 2) 19±3.2% helium 1.5±0.5% methane approximately 0.019% hydrogen deuteride (HD) approximately 0.00015% ethane
Ice:	ammonia, aqueous, ammonium hydrosulfide (NH 4 SH), methane
PLANET NEPTUNE

Physical characteristics:

Neptune has a great influence on the Kuiper Belt, which is very distant from it. The Kuiper Belt is a ring of icy small planets, similar to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but much more extensive. It ranges from the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) to 55 astronomical units from the Sun. The gravitational force of Neptune has the most significant effect on the Kuiper belt (including in terms of the formation of its structure), comparable in proportion to the influence of Jupiter’s gravity on the asteroid belt. During the existence of the Solar System, some regions of the Kuiper Belt were destabilized by Neptune's gravity, and gaps appeared in the structure of the belt. An example is the area between 40 and 42 a. e.
The orbits of objects that can be held in this belt for a sufficiently long time are determined by the so-called. age-old resonances with Neptune. For some orbits, this time is comparable to the time of the entire existence of the Solar System. These resonances appear when an object's orbital period around the Sun is related to Neptune's orbital period as small natural numbers, such as 1:2 or 3:4. In this way, the objects mutually stabilize their orbits. If, for example, an object orbits the Sun twice as fast as Neptune, it will travel exactly halfway, while Neptune will return to its original position.
The most densely populated part of the Kuiper belt, which includes more than 200 known objects, is in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune. These objects orbit once every 1 1/2 revolutions of Neptune and are known as "plutinos" because among them is one of the largest Kuiper Belt objects, Pluto. Although the orbits of Neptune and Pluto are very close to each other, the 2:3 resonance will prevent them from colliding. In other, less populated areas, there are resonances of 3:4, 3:5, 4:7 and 2:5.
At its Lagrange points (L4 and L5) - zones of gravitational stability - Neptune holds many Trojan asteroids, as if dragging them along in orbit. Neptune's Trojans are in a 1:1 resonance with him. The Trojans are very stable in their orbits, and therefore the hypothesis of their capture by Neptune's gravitational field is doubtful. Most likely, they formed with him.

Internal structure

Atmosphere and climate

Methane on Neptune The false-color image was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft using three filters: blue, green and a filter that shows the absorption of light by methane. Thus, regions in the image that are bright white or red contain a higher concentration of methane. All of Neptune is covered in a ubiquitous methane haze in a translucent layer of the planet's atmosphere. At the center of the planet's disk, light passes through the haze and goes deeper into the planet's atmosphere, causing the center to appear less red, and at the edges, methane haze scatters sunlight at high altitudes, resulting in a bright red halo.

PLANET NEPTUNE

High altitude cloud bands on Neptune The image was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft two hours before its closest approach to Neptune. The vertical bright streaks of Neptune's clouds are clearly visible. These clouds were observed at a latitude of 29 degrees north near Neptune's eastern terminator. Clouds cast shadows, meaning they are higher than the underlying opaque cloud layer. Image resolution is 11 km per pixel. The width of the cloud bands is from 50 to 200 km, and the shadows they cast extend for 30-50 km. The height of the clouds is approximately 50 km.

PLANET NEPTUNE

One of the differences between Neptune and Uranus is the level of meteorological activity. Voyager 2, which flew near Uranus in 1986, recorded extremely weak atmospheric activity. In contrast to Uranus, Neptune experienced noticeable weather changes during Voyager 2's 1989 survey.

The weather on Neptune is characterized by an extremely dynamic storm system, with winds reaching near supersonic speeds (about 600 m/s). While tracking the movement of permanent clouds, a change in wind speed was recorded from 20 m/s in the east to 325 m/s in the west. In the upper cloud layer, wind speeds vary from 400 m/s along the equator to 250 m/s at the poles. Most winds on Neptune blow in the direction opposite to the planet's rotation on its axis. The general pattern of winds shows that at high latitudes the direction of the winds coincides with the direction of rotation of the planet, and at low latitudes it is opposite to it. Differences in the direction of air currents are believed to be a consequence of the "skin effect" rather than any underlying atmospheric processes. The content of methane, ethane and acetylene in the atmosphere in the equator region is tens and hundreds of times higher than the content of these substances in the pole region. This observation can be considered evidence in favor of the existence of upwelling at Neptune's equator and its decrease closer to the poles.

In 2006, it was observed that the upper troposphere of Neptune's south pole was 10 °C warmer than the rest of Neptune, where temperatures average -200 °C. This difference in temperature is enough to allow methane, which is frozen in other areas of Neptune's upper atmosphere, to leak into space at the south pole. This “hot spot” is a consequence of the axial tilt of Neptune, whose south pole has been facing the Sun for a quarter of a Neptunian year, that is, about 40 Earth years. As Neptune slowly moves along its orbit to the opposite side of the Sun, the south pole will gradually go into shadow, and Neptune will substitute the north pole for the Sun. Thus, the release of methane into space will move from the south pole to the north. Due to seasonal changes, cloud bands in Neptune's southern hemisphere have been observed to increase in size and albedo. This trend was noticed back in 1980, and is expected to continue until 2020 with the arrival of a new season on Neptune. The seasons change every 40 years.

In 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 discovered the Great Dark Spot, a persistent anticyclone storm measuring 13,000 x 6,600 km. This atmospheric storm resembled Jupiter's Great Red Spot, but on November 2, 1994, the Hubble Space Telescope did not find it in its original location. Instead, a new similar formation was discovered in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Scooter is another storm found south of the Great Dark Spot. Its name is a consequence of the fact that several months before Voyager 2's approach to Neptune, it was clear that this group of clouds was moving much faster than the Great Dark Spot. Subsequent images revealed groups of clouds even faster than the scooter.

Big dark spot The photo on the left was taken with Voyager 2's narrow-angle camera using a green and orange filter, from a distance of 4.4 million miles from Neptune, 4 days and 20 hours before closest approach to the planet. The Great Dark Spot and its smaller companion to the west, the Lesser Dark Spot, are clearly visible. The series of images on the right shows changes in the Great Dark Spot over 4.5 days during the approach of the Voyager 2 spacecraft, the shooting interval was 18 hours. The large dark spot is located at a latitude of 20 degrees south and extends up to 30 degrees in longitude. The top image in the series was taken at a distance of 17 million km from the planet, the bottom - 10 million km. A series of images showed that the storm was changing over time. In particular, in the west, at the beginning of the survey, a dark plume stretched behind the BTP, which then was drawn into the main area of ​​the storm, leaving behind a series of small dark spots - “beads”. The large bright cloud at the southern border of the BTP is a more or less constant companion to the formation. The apparent movement of small clouds at the periphery suggests counterclockwise rotation of the FTP.
PLANET NEPTUNE

Because these storms are persistent and can persist for months, they are thought to have a vortex structure. Often associated with dark spots are brighter, persistent clouds of methane that form at the tropopause. The persistence of the accompanying clouds shows that some former "dark spots" may continue to exist as a cyclone, even though they lose their dark color. Dark spots can dissipate if they move too close to the equator or through some other as-yet-unknown mechanism

The more varied weather on Neptune, compared to Uranus, is believed to be a consequence of higher internal temperatures. At the same time, Neptune is one and a half times farther from the Sun than Uranus, and receives only 40% of the amount of sunlight that Uranus receives. The surface temperatures of these two planets are approximately equal. The upper troposphere of Neptune reaches a very low temperature of -221.4 °C. At a depth where the pressure is 1 bar, the temperature reaches -201.15 °C. The gases go deeper, but the temperature steadily rises. As with Uranus, the heating mechanism is unknown, but the discrepancy is large: Uranus emits 1.1 times more energy than it receives from the Sun. Neptune emits 2.61 times more than it receives, its internal heat source adding 161% to the energy it receives from the Sun. Although Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, its internal energy is sufficient to generate the fastest winds in the solar system.

New dark spot The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new large dark spot located in Neptune's northern hemisphere. Neptune's tilt and its current position make it almost impossible to see more details now; as a result, the spot in the image is located near the planet's limb. The new spot replicates a similar storm in the southern hemisphere that was discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. In 1994, images from the Hubble telescope showed that the sunspot in the southern hemisphere had disappeared. Like its predecessor, the new storm is surrounded by clouds at the edge. These clouds form when gas from lower regions rises and then cools to form methane ice crystals.

PLANET NEPTUNE

Voyager 2 took this image of Neptune five days before its historic flyby of the planet on August 25, 1989.

The planet Neptune is a mysterious blue giant on the outskirts of the solar system, whose existence was not suspected until the end of the first half of the 19th century.

A distant planet, invisible without optical instruments, was discovered in the fall of 1846. J. C. Adams was the first to think about the existence of a celestial body that anomalously affects the movement. He presented his calculations and assumptions to the royal astronomer Erie, who ignored them. At the same time, the Frenchman Le Verrier was studying deviations in the orbit of Uranus; his conclusions about the existence of an unknown planet were presented in 1845. It was obvious that the results of the two independent studies were very similar.

In September 1846, an unknown planet was spotted through the telescope of the Berlin Observatory, located at the location indicated in Le Verrier's calculations. The discovery, made using mathematical calculations, shocked the scientific world and became the subject of a dispute between England and France about national priority. To avoid disputes, the German astronomer Halle, who examined the new planet through a telescope, can be considered the discoverer. According to tradition, the name of one of the Roman gods, the patron saint of the seas, Neptune, was chosen for the name.

Neptune's orbit

After Pluto from the list of planets, Neptune turned out to be the last - eighth - representative of the solar system. Its distance from the center is 4.5 billion km; it takes a wave of light 4 hours to travel this distance. The planet, along with Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter, was included in the group of four gas giants. Due to the enormous diameter of the orbit, a year here is equal to 164.8 Earth years, and a day passes in less than 16 hours. The trajectory around the Sun is close to circular, its eccentricity is 0.0112.

Planet structure

Mathematical calculations made it possible to create a theoretical model of the structure of Neptune. In its center there is a solid core, similar in mass to the Earth; iron, silicates, and nickel are found in its composition. The surface looks like a viscous mass of ammonia, water and methane modifications of ice, which flows into the atmosphere without a clear boundary. The internal temperature of the core is quite high - reaching 7000 degrees - but due to the high pressure, the frozen surface does not melt. Neptune's is 17 times higher than Earth's and is 1.0243x10 in 26 kg.

Atmosphere and raging winds

The base is: hydrogen – 82%, helium – 15% and methane – 1%. This is a traditional composition for gas giants. The temperature on the conventional surface of Neptune shows -220 degrees Celsius. In the lower layers of the atmosphere, clouds formed by crystals of methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia or ammonium sulfide have been observed. It's these pieces of ice that create the blue glow around the planet, but that's only part of the explanation. There is a hypothesis about an unknown substance that gives a bright blue color.

The winds blowing on Neptune have a unique speed, its average is 1000 km/h, and hurricane gusts reach 2400 km/h. Air masses move against the planet's axis of rotation. An inexplicable fact is the increase in storms and winds, which is observed with increasing distance between the planet and the Sun.

The "" spacecraft and the Hubble telescope observed an amazing phenomenon - the Great Dark Spot - a hurricane of epic proportions that rushed across Neptune at a speed of 1000 km/h. Similar vortices appear and disappear in different places on the planet.

Magnetosphere

The giant's magnetic field has gained significant power; its basis is considered to be a conductive liquid mantle. A displacement of the magnetic axis relative to the geographic axis by 47 degrees causes the magnetosphere to change its shape following the rotation of the planet. This mighty shield reflects the energy of the solar wind.

Moons of Neptune

The satellite, Triton, was spotted a month after the grand discovery of Neptune. Its mass is equal to 99% of the entire satellite system. The appearance of Triton is associated with a possible capture from.
The Kuiper Belt is a vast region filled with objects the size of small satellites, but there are a few as large as Pluto and some perhaps even larger. Behind the Kuiper Belt is the place from which comets come to us. The Oort cloud extends almost halfway to the nearest star.

Triton is one of three moons in our system that has an atmosphere. Triton is the only one with a spherical shape. In total, in the company of Neptune there are 14 celestial bodies, named after the smaller gods of the sea depths.

Since the discovery of the planet, the presence of it has been discussed, but no confirmation of the theory has been found. It was only in 1984 that a bright arc was noticed at a Chilean observatory. The remaining five rings were found thanks to research by Voyager 2. The formations are dark in color and do not reflect sunlight. They owe their names to the people who discovered Neptune: Halle, Le Verrier, Argo, Lascelles, and the most distant and unusual one is named after Adams. This ring is made up of separate arms that should have merged into a single structure, but don't. A possible reason is considered to be the effect of gravity on undiscovered satellites. One formation remains nameless.

Research

Neptune's enormous distance from Earth and its special location in space make observing the planet difficult. The advent of large telescopes with powerful optics has expanded the capabilities of scientists. All studies of Neptune are based on data obtained by the Voyager 2 mission. The distant blue planet, flying at the edge of the world we know, is full of things about which we still know practically nothing.

New Horizons captures Neptune and its moon Triton. The image was taken on July 10, 2014 from a distance of 3.96 billion kilometers.

Images of Neptune

Voyager 2's images of Neptune and its moons are largely underappreciated. More fascinating than even Neptune itself is its giant moon Triton, which is similar in size and density to Pluto. Triton may have been captured by Neptune, as evidenced by its retrograde (clockwise) orbit around Neptune. The gravitational interaction between the satellite and the planet generates heat and keeps Triton active. Its surface has several craters and is geologically active.

Its rings are thin and weak and almost invisible from Earth. Voyager 2 took the photo while they were backlit by the Sun. The image is severely overexposed (10 minutes).

Neptune clouds

Despite its great distance from the Sun, Neptune has highly dynamic weather, including some of the strongest winds in the Solar System. The "Great Dark Spot" seen in the image has already disappeared and shows us how quickly changes are happening on the most distant planet.

The most complete map of Triton to date

Paul Schenk from the Lunar and Planetary Institute (Houston, USA) reworked old Voyager data to reveal more details. The result is a map of both hemispheres, although much of the Northern Hemisphere is missing because it was in shadow when the probe flew by.

Animation of the Voyager 2 spacecraft flying past Triton a, committed in 1989. During the flyby, most of the Northern Hemisphere Triton but was in the shadows. Due to Voyager's high speed and slow rotation Triton oh, we could only see one hemisphere.

Geysers of Triton

The planet Neptune was first noticed by Galileo Galilei in 1612. However, the movement of the celestial body was too slow, and the scientist considered it to be an ordinary star. The discovery of Neptune as a planet took place only two centuries later - in 1846. It happened by accident. Experts have noticed some oddities in the movement of Uranus. After a series of calculations, it became obvious that such deviations in the trajectory are possible only under the influence of the attraction of neighboring large celestial bodies. This is how the planet Neptune began its cosmic history, about which it was revealed to humanity.

"Sea God" in outer space

Thanks to its amazing blue color, this planet was named after the ancient Roman ruler of the seas and oceans - Neptune. The cosmic body is the eighth in our Galaxy, it is located further than other planets from the Sun.

Neptune is accompanied by many satellites. But there are only two main ones - Triton and Nereid. The first, as the main satellite, has its own distinctive features:

• Triton– a giant satellite, in the past – an independent planet;
• diameter is 2,700 km;
• is the only internal satellite with a reverse motion, i.e. moves not counterclockwise, but along it;
• is relatively close to its planet - only 335,000 km;
• has its own atmosphere and clouds consisting of methane and nitrogen;
• the surface is shrouded in frozen gases, mainly nitrogen;
• Nitrogen fountains erupt on the surface, the height of which reaches 10 km.

Astronomers suggest that in 3.6 billion years Triton will disappear forever. It will be destroyed by Neptune's gravitational field, turning it into another circumplanetary ring.

Nereid also has extraordinary qualities:

• has an irregular shape;
• is the owner of a highly elongated orbit;
• diameter is 340 km;
• the distance from Neptune is 6.2 million km;
• One revolution in its orbit takes 360 days.

There is an opinion that Nereid was an asteroid in the past, but fell into the trap of Neptune's gravity and remained in its orbit.

Exceptional Features and Interesting Facts about the Planet Neptune

It is impossible to see Neptune with the naked eye, but if you know the exact location of the planet in the starry sky, then you can admire it with powerful binoculars. But for a complete study, serious equipment is needed. Obtaining and processing information about Neptune is a rather complex process. The collected interesting facts about this planet allow you to learn more:

Exploring Neptune is a labor-intensive process. Due to the great distance from Earth, telescopic data have low accuracy. Studying the planet became possible only after the advent of the Hubble telescope and other ground-based telescopes.

In addition, Neptune, which was explored using the Voyager 2 spacecraft. This is the only device that managed to get closest to this point in the solar system.

Neptune is the eighth planet included in our solar system. Scientists discovered it first, based on constant observations of the sky and deep mathematical research. Urbain Joseph Le Verrier, after lengthy discussions, shared his observations with the Berlin Observatory, where they were studied by Johann Gottfried Halle. It was there that Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846. Seventeen days later, his companion, Triton, was found.

The planet Neptune is located at a distance of 4.5 billion km from the Sun. It takes 165 years to complete its orbit. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, since it is located at a significant distance from the Earth.

The strongest winds reign in Neptune's atmosphere; according to some scientists, they can reach speeds of 2100 km/h. In 1989, during a flyby of Voyager 2, a Great Dark Spot was discovered in the southern hemisphere of the planet, exactly the same as the Great Red Spot on the planet Jupiter. In the upper atmosphere, Neptune's temperature is close to 220 degrees Celsius. The temperature at the center of Neptune varies from 5400°K to 7000-7100°C, which corresponds to the temperature on the surface of the Sun and the internal temperature of most planets. Neptune has a fragmented and faint ring system that was discovered back in the 1960s but officially confirmed in 1989 by Voyager 2.

The history of the discovery of the planet Neptune

On December 28, 1612, Galileo Galilei explored Neptune, and then on January 29, 1613. But in both cases, he mistook Neptune for a fixed star that was conjunct Jupiter in the sky. That is why Galileo was not given credit for the discovery of Neptune.

In December 1612, during the first observation, Neptune was at a stationary point, and on the day of observation it began to move backward. Retrograde motion is observed when our planet overtakes the outer planet along its axis. Because Neptune was close to station, its motion was too weak for Galileo to see it with his small telescope.

Alexis Bouvard demonstrated astronomical tables of the orbit of the planet Uranus in 1821. Later observations showed strong deviations from the tables he created. Taking this circumstance into account, the scientist suggested that the unknown body with its gravity disturbs the orbit of Uranus. He sent his calculations to the royal astronomer Sir George Airy, who asked Kuh for clarification. He had already begun to draft an answer, but for some reason did not send it and did not insist on working on this issue.

In 1845-1846, Urbain Le Verrier, independently of Adams, quickly carried out his calculations, but his compatriots did not share his enthusiasm. After reviewing Le Verrier's first estimate of Neptune's longitude and its similarity with Adams' estimate, Airy managed to persuade James Chiles, director of the Cambridge Observatory, to begin a search that lasted from August to September. Chiles actually observed Neptune twice, but because he delayed processing the results until a later date, he was unable to identify the planet in a timely manner.

At this time, Le Verrier convinced the astronomer Johann Gottfried Halle, working at the Berlin Observatory, to start searching. Observatory student Heinrich d'Arre suggested to Halle that he compare a drawn map of the sky in the area of ​​Le Verrier's predicted location with the view of the sky at the moment in order to observe the movement of the planet relative to the fixed stars. On the first night, the planet was discovered after approximately 1 hour of searching. Johann Encke, together with the director of the observatory, continued to observe the part of the sky where the planet was located for 2 nights, as a result of which they discovered its movement relative to the stars and were able to verify that it was in fact a new planet. On September 23, 1846, Neptune was discovered. It is within 1° of Le Verrier's coordinates and approximately 12° of the coordinates that were predicted by Adams.

Immediately after the discovery, a dispute ensued between the French and the British over the right to consider the discovery of the planet theirs. As a result, they came to a consensus and decided to consider Le Verrier and Adams as co-discoverers. In 1998, the “Neptune papers” were once again found, which were illegally appropriated by astronomer Olin J. Eggen and kept by him for thirty years. After his death they were found in his possession. Some historians, after reviewing the documents, believe that Adams does not deserve equal rights to discover the planet with Le Verrier. In principle, this has been questioned before, for example, since 1966 by Dennis Rawlins. In the magazine "Dio" he published an article demanding that Adams's equal right to discovery be recognized as theft. "Yes, Adams did some calculations, but he was somewhat unsure about where Neptune was located," Nicholas Collestrum said in 2003.

Origin of the name Neptune

For a certain time after its discovery, the planet Neptune was designated as "Le Verrier's planet" or as the "planet outer of Uranus." The idea of ​​​​an official name was first put forward by Halle, who proposed the name “Janus”. Chiles in England suggested the name "Ocean".

Le Verrier, claiming that he had the right to name it, proposed to call it Neptune, mistakenly believing that this name was recognized by the French Bureau of Longitudes. The scientist tried to name the planet in October after his own name, Le Verrier, and was supported by the director of the observatory, but the initiative ran into resistance outside France. Almanacs quickly returned the name Herschel (after William Herschel, the discoverer) for Uranus and Le Verrier for the new planet.

But, despite this, Vasily Struve, director of the Pulkovo Observatory, will settle on the name “Neptune”. He announced his decision at the congress of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on December 29, 1846, which took place in St. Petersburg. This name gained support beyond the borders of Russia and very soon became the accepted international name for the planet.

physical characteristics

Neptune has a mass of 1.0243 × 1026 kg and acts as an intermediate link between the large gas giants and the Earth. Its weight is seventeen times that of Earth and 1/19 that of Jupiter. As for the equatorial radius of Neptune, it corresponds to 24,764 km, which is almost four times larger than the Earth’s. Uranus and Neptune are often classified as gas giants ("ice giants") due to their high volatile concentrations and smaller size.

Internal structure

It is immediately worth noting that the internal structure of the planet Neptune is similar to the structure of Uranus. The atmosphere makes up approximately 10-20% of the total mass of the planet, the distance from the surface to the atmosphere is 10-20% of the distance from the planet's surface to the core. The pressure near the core can be 10 GPa. Concentrations of ammonia, methane and water have been found in the lower atmosphere.

This hotter and darker region gradually condenses into a superheated liquid mantle, the temperature of which reaches 2000 - 5000 K. The weight of the planet's mantle is ten to fifteen times that of Earth, according to various estimates, and it is rich in ammonia, water, methane and other compounds. This matter, according to generally accepted terminology, is called icy, even though it is a dense and very hot liquid. This liquid, which has high electrical conductivity, is often called an ocean of aqueous ammonia. Methane at a depth of 7 thousand km decomposes into diamond crystals that “fall” onto the core. Scientists have hypothesized that there is an entire ocean of “diamond liquid.” The planet's core is made of nickel, iron and silicates and weighs 1.2 times our planet. In the center the pressure reaches 7 megabars, which is millions of times higher than on Earth. In the center the temperature reaches 5400 K.

Atmosphere of Neptune

Scientists have discovered helium and waterfall in the upper atmosphere. At this height they are 19% and 80%. In addition, traces of methane can be traced. Methane absorption bands can be traced at wavelengths exceeding 600 nm in the infrared and red parts of the spectrum. As with Uranus, methane's absorption of red light is a key factor in giving Neptune its blue hue, although the bright azure is different from the moderate aquamarine color of Uranus. Since the percentage of methane in the atmosphere is not much different from that of Uranus, scientists speculate that there is some unknown atmospheric component that contributes to the formation of the blue color. The atmosphere is divided into two main regions, namely the lower troposphere, in which there is a decrease in temperature with height, and the stratosphere, where another pattern can be observed - temperature increases with height. The tropopause boundary (located between them) is located at a pressure level of 0.1 bar. At pressure levels below 10-4 - 10-5 microbars, the stratosphere gives way to the thermosphere. Gradually the thermosphere turns into the exosphere. Models of the troposphere suggest that, given altitude, it consists of clouds of approximate compositions. In the pressure zone below 1 bar there are upper-level clouds, where the temperature is conducive to methane condensation.

Clouds of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia form at pressures between 1 and 5 bar. At higher pressures, clouds may consist of ammonium sulfide, ammonia, water and hydrogen sulfide. Deeper down, at a pressure of about 50 bar, clouds of water ice can form in the case of temperatures of 0 °C. Scientists suggest that this zone may contain clouds of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. In addition, it is possible that clouds of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia may be found in this area.

For such a low temperature, Neptune is too far from the Sun for it to heat the thermosphere with UV radiation. It is possible that this phenomenon is a consequence of atmospheric interaction with ions located in the planet’s magnetic field. Another theory says that the main heating mechanism is gravity waves from the inner regions of Neptune, which subsequently dissipate in the atmosphere. The thermosphere contains traces of carbon monoxide and water brought in from external sources (dust and meteorites).

Neptune Climate

It is from the differences between Uranus and Neptune - the level of meteorological activity. Voyager 2, which flew near uranium in 1986, recorded weak atmospheric activity. Neptune, in contrast to Uranus, exhibited clear weather changes during the 1989 survey.

The planet's weather is characterized by a serious dynamic system of storms. Moreover, the wind speed can sometimes reach about 600 m/s (supersonic speed). While tracking the movement of clouds, a change in wind speed was noticed. Eastward from 20 m/s; in the west - to 325 m/s. As for the upper cloud layer, the wind speed here also varies: along the equator from 400 m/s; at the poles – up to 250 m/s. Moreover, most winds give a direction that is opposite to the rotation of Neptune around its axis. The pattern of winds shows that their direction at high latitudes coincides with the direction of rotation of the planet, and at low latitudes it is completely opposite to it. The difference in the direction of the winds, as scientists believe, is a consequence of the “screen effect” and is not associated with deep atmospheric processes. The content of ethane, methane and acetylene in the atmosphere in the equator region is tens or even hundreds of times higher than the content of these substances in the pole region. This observation gives reason to believe that upwelling exists at Neptune’s equator and closer to the poles. In 2007, scientists noticed that the upper troposphere of the planet's south pole was 10 °C warmer compared to the other part of Neptune, where the average temperature is −200 °C. Moreover, such a difference is quite enough for methane in other areas of the upper atmosphere to be frozen and gradually seep into space at the south pole.

Due to seasonal changes, cloud bands in the planet's southern hemisphere increased in albedo and size. This trend was observed back in 1980; according to experts, it will last until 2020 with the onset of a new season on the planet, which changes every forty years.

Moons of Neptune

Currently, Neptune has thirteen known satellites. The largest of them weighs more than 99.5% of the total mass of all the planet’s satellites. This is Triton, which was discovered by William Lassell seventeen days after the discovery of the planet itself. Triton, unlike other large moons in our solar system, has a retrograde orbit. It is possible that it was captured by Neptune's gravity, and may have been a dwarf planet in the past. It is at a small distance from Neptune to be locked in synchronous rotation. Triton, due to tidal acceleration, is slowly moving in a spiral towards the planet and as a result, when it reaches the Roche limit, it will be destroyed. As a result, a ring will be formed that will be more powerful than the rings of Saturn. This is expected to happen within 10 to 100 million years.

Triton is one of 3 moons that have an atmosphere (along with Titan and Io). The possibility of the existence of a liquid ocean under the icy crust of Triton, similar to the ocean of Europa, is indicated.

The next discovered moon of Neptune was Nereid. It has an irregular shape and is among the highest orbital eccentricities.

Between July and September 1989, six more new satellites were discovered. Among them, it is worth noting Proteus, which has an irregular shape and high density.

The four inner satellites are Thalassa, Naiad, Galatea and Despina. Their orbits are so close to the planet that they are within its rings. Larissa, next in line, was first opened in 1981.

Between 2002 and 2003, five more irregularly shaped moons of Neptune were discovered. Since Neptune was considered the Roman god of the sea, his moons were named after other sea creatures.

Observing Neptune

It's no secret that Neptune is not visible from Earth with the naked eye. The dwarf planet Ceres, the Galilean moons of Jupiter and asteroids 2 Pallas, 4 Vesta, 3 Juno, 7 Iris and 6 Hebe are visible brighter in the sky. To observe the planet, you need a telescope with a magnification of 200x and a diameter of at least 200-250 mm. In this case, you can see the planet as a small bluish disk, reminiscent of Uranus.

Every 367 days, for an earthly observer, the planet Neptune enters into an apparent retrograde motion, forming certain imaginary loops against the background of other stars during each opposition.

Observing the planet at radio waves shows that Neptune is the source of irregular flares and continuous emission. Both phenomena are explained by a rotating magnetic field. Neptune's storms are clearly visible in the infrared part of the spectrum. You can determine their size and shape, and accurately track their movement.

In 2016, NASA plans to launch the Neptune Orbiter spacecraft to Neptune. To date, no exact launch dates have been officially announced; the plan for exploring the Solar System does not include this device.