Neptune

  • Neptune

     

    • A year on Neptune lasts for 165 Earth years.

    • Neptune’s day lasts 16 hours.

    • The temperature on Neptune ranges from  -360 °F (-218 °C) to -328 °F(-200 °C).

    • Neptune has 14 moons, all named after Greek gods of the Sea and sea nymphs.  For example, Triton (Neptune’s largest moon) is named after the son of the god of the sea.

    • If Earth were a large apple, Neptune would be about the size of a basketball, about 4 times as wide as the Earth!

    • Neptune is about 17 times as massive as the Earth.

    • Even though it is more massive than the Earth, its gravitational field is only about 1.15 times as strong.  A 100-pound person on Earth would weigh 115 pounds on Neptune.

    • It is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye from Earth.

    • Neptune is called an ‘ice giant’ because most of its mass is hot, dense fluid of ‘icy’ materials like water, ammonia, and methane, all surrounding a small rocky core.

    • Neptune has 5 faint rings and 4 smaller ring arcs.

    • Neptune is our solar system’s windiest world.

    • Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane, the latter giving the planet its famous blue tint!