Does the solar system end at Neptune? Neptune's Inner Structure

Characteristics of the planet:

• Distance from the Sun: 4,496.6 million km
• Planet diameter: 49,528 km*
• Day on the planet: 16h 06min**
• Year on the planet: 164.8 years***
• t° on the surface: °C
• Atmosphere: Composed of hydrogen, helium and methane
• Satellites: 14

* diameter along the equator of the planet
**period of rotation around its own axis (in Earth days)
***period of orbit around the Sun (in Earth days)

Neptune is the last of the four gas giants belonging to the solar system. It is in eighth place in terms of distance from the sun. Because of its blue color, the planet got its name in honor of the ancient Roman ruler of the ocean - Neptune. The planet has 14 currently known satellites and 6 rings.

Presentation: planet Neptune

Planet structure

The huge distance to Neptune does not allow us to accurately establish its internal structure. Mathematical calculations have established that its diameter is 49,600 km, it is 4 times the diameter of the Earth, 58 times in volume, but due to its low density (1.6 g/cm3) its mass is only 17 times that of the Earth.

Neptune is composed mostly of ice and belongs to the group of ice giants. According to calculations, the center of the planet is a solid core, which is 1.5-2 times larger in diameter than the Earth’s. The basis of the planet is a layer of methane, water and ammonia ice. The base temperature ranges from 2500-5500 degrees Celsius. Despite such a high temperature, the ice remains in a solid state, this is due to the high pressure in the bowels of the planet, it is millions of times higher than that on Earth. The molecules are pressed so tightly together that they are crushed and broken into ions and electrons.

Atmosphere of the planet

The atmosphere of Neptune is the outer gaseous shell of the planet, its thickness is approximately 5000 kilometers, its main composition is hydrogen and helium. There is no clearly defined boundary between the atmosphere and the ice layer; the density gradually increases under the mass of the upper layers. Closer to the surface, gases under pressure turn into crystals, which become more and more numerous, and then these crystals are completely transformed into an ice crust. The depth of the transition layer is approximately 3000 km

Moons of the planet Neptune

Neptune's first satellite was discovered in 1846 by William Lassell almost simultaneously with the planet and was named Triton. In the future, the Voyager 2 spacecraft studied this satellite well, receiving interesting images in which canyons and rocks, lakes of ice and ammonia, as well as unusual volcanoes-geysers are clearly visible. The Triton satellite differs from others in that it also has a reverse motion in the direction of its orbit. This leads scientists to speculate that Triton was not previously related to Neptune and was formed outside the influence of the planet, perhaps in the Kuiper strip, and then was “captured” by Neptune’s gravity. Another satellite of Neptune, Nereid, was discovered much later in 1949, and during the space mission to the Voyager 2 apparatus, several small satellites of the planet were discovered at once. The same device also discovered a whole system of dimly lit rings of Neptune. At the moment, the last of the discovered satellites is Psamapha in 2003, and the planet has a total of 14 known satellites.

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. It completes the group of planets known as gas giants.

The history of the discovery of the planet.

Neptune became the first planet whose existence astronomers knew about even before they saw it through a telescope.

The uneven movement of Uranus in its orbit has led astronomers to believe that the reason for this behavior of the planet is the gravitational influence of another celestial body. Having carried out the necessary mathematical calculations, Johann Halle and Heinrich d'Arre at the Berlin Observatory discovered a distant blue planet on September 23, 1846.

It is very difficult to accurately answer the question thanks to whom Neptune was found. Many astronomers have worked in this direction and debates on this matter are still ongoing.

10 things you need to know about Neptune!

1. Neptune is the most distant planet in the Solar System and occupies the eighth orbit from the Sun;
2. Mathematicians were the first to know about the existence of Neptune;
   
3. There are 14 satellites circling around Neptune;
4. Neputna's orbit is removed from the Sun by an average of 30 AU;
5. One day on Neptune lasts 16 Earth hours;
6. Neptune has only been visited by one spacecraft, Voyager 2;
7. There is a system of rings around Neptune;
8. Neptune has the second highest gravity after Jupiter;
9. One year on Neptune lasts 164 Earth years;
10. The atmosphere on Neptune is extremely active;

Astronomical characteristics

The meaning of the name of the planet Neptune

Like other planets, Neptune gets its name from Greek and Roman mythology. The name Neptune, after the Roman god of the sea, suited the planet surprisingly well due to its gorgeous blue hue.

Physical characteristics of Neptune

Rings and satellites

Neptune is orbited by 14 known moons, named after lesser sea deities and nymphs from Greek mythology. The planet's largest moon is Triton. It was discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the discovery of the planet.

Triton is the only satellite of Neptune that has a spherical shape. The planet's remaining 13 known satellites are irregularly shaped. In addition to its regular shape, Triton is known for having a retrograde orbit around Neptune (the direction of the satellite's rotation is opposite to Neptune's rotation around the Sun). This gives astronomers reason to believe that Triton was gravitationally captured by Neptune and was not formed along with the planet. Also, recent studies of the Neputna system have shown a constant decrease in the altitude of Triton’s orbit around the parent planet. This means that in millions of years, Triton will fall onto Neptune or be completely destroyed by the planet's powerful tidal forces.

There is also a ring system near Neptune. However, research shows that they are relatively young and very unstable.

Features of the planet

Neptune is extremely distant from the Sun and is therefore invisible to the naked eye from Earth. The average distance from our star is about 4.5 billion kilometers. And due to its slow movement in orbit, one year on the planet lasts 165 Earth years.

The main axis of Neptune's magnetic field, like that of Uranus, is strongly inclined relative to the planet's rotation axis and is about 47 degrees. However, this did not affect its power, which is 27 times greater than that of the Earth.

Despite the large distance from the Sun and, as a result, less energy received from the star, the winds on Neptune are three times stronger than on Jupiter and nine times stronger than on Earth.

In 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft, flying near the Neptune system, saw a large storm in its atmosphere. This hurricane, like the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, was so large that it could contain the Earth. The speed of his movement was also enormous and amounted to about 1200 kilometers per hour. However, such atmospheric phenomena do not last as long as on Jupiter. Subsequent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope found no evidence of this storm.

Atmosphere of the planet

Neptune's atmosphere is not much different from other gas giants. It mainly consists of two components hydrogen and helium with small admixtures of methane and various ices.

Useful articles that will answer most interesting questions about Saturn.

Deep space objects

Although, of course, the word “giant” will be a little strong in relation to Neptune, a planet that, although very large by cosmic standards, is, nevertheless, significantly inferior in size to our other giant planets: Saturn, Saturn, etc. Speaking of Uranus, although this planet is larger in size than Neptune, Neptune is still 18% larger in mass than Uranus. In general, this planet, named because of its blue color in honor of the ancient god of the seas, Neptune can be considered the smallest of the giant planets and at the same time the most massive - Neptune’s density is many times stronger than that of other planets. But compared to Neptune and our Earth, they are tiny, if you imagine that our Sun is the size of a door, then the Earth is the size of a coin, and Neptune is the same in size as a large baseball.

The history of the discovery of the planet Neptune

The history of the discovery of Neptune is unique in its kind, since it is the first planet in our solar system that was discovered purely theoretically, thanks to mathematical calculations, and only then was it noticed through a telescope. It happened like this: back in 1846, French astronomer Alexis Bouvard observed the movement of the planet Uranus through a telescope and noticed strange deviations in its orbit. The anomaly in the movement of the planet, in his opinion, could be caused by the strong gravitational influence of some other large celestial body. Alexis’s German colleague, astronomer Johann Halle, made the necessary mathematical calculations to determine the location of this previously unknown planet, and they turned out to be correct - soon our Neptune was discovered at the site of the supposed location of the unknown “Planet X”.

Although long before this, the planet Neptune was observed in a telescope by the great. True, in his astronomical notes he noted it as a star, not a planet, so the discovery was not credited to him.

Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system

“But what about?”, you probably ask. In fact, everything here is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Since its discovery in 1846, Neptune has rightfully been considered the farthest planet from the Sun. But in 1930, little Pluto was discovered, which is even further away. There’s just one nuance here: Pluto’s orbit is strongly elongated along an ellipse in such a way that at certain moments of its movement Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune. The last time such an astronomical phenomenon occurred was from 1978 to 1999 - for 20 years, Neptune again had the title of the full-fledged “farthest planet from the Sun.”

Some astronomers, in order to get rid of these confusions, even proposed to “demote” Pluto from the title of planet, they say, it is just a small celestial body flying in orbit, or to assign the status of a “dwarf planet”, however, disputes on this matter are still ongoing.

Features of the planet Neptune

Neptune has its bright blue appearance due to the strong density of clouds in the planet’s atmosphere; these clouds conceal chemical compounds that are still completely unknown to our science, which, when absorbed from sunlight, turn blue. One year on Neptune is equal to our 165 years, which is the time it takes Neptune to complete its full cycle in its orbit around the Sun. But a day on Neptune is not as long as a year; it is even shorter than ours on Earth, since it lasts only 16 hours.

Neptune temperature

Since the sun’s rays reach the distant “blue giant” in very small quantities, it is natural that it is very, very cold on its surface - the average surface temperature there is -221 degrees Celsius, which is two times lower than the freezing point of water. In a word, if you were on Neptune, you would turn into ice in the blink of an eye.

Surface of Neptune

Neptune's surface consists of ammonia and methane ice, but the planet's core may well turn out to be rock, but this is still just a hypothesis. It is curious that the force of gravity on Neptune is very similar to that of Earth, it is only 17% greater than ours, and this despite the fact that Neptune is 17 times larger than Earth. Despite this, we are unlikely to be able to walk around Neptune in the near future, see the previous paragraph about the ice. And besides, strong winds blow on the surface of Neptune, the speed of which can reach up to 2400 kilometers per hour (!), perhaps on no other planet in our solar system there are such strong winds as here.

Neptune size

As mentioned above, it is 17 times larger than our Earth. The picture below shows a comparison of the sizes of our planets.

Atmosphere of Neptune

The composition of Neptune's atmosphere is similar to the atmospheres of most similar giant planets: it is mainly dominated by hydrogen and helium atoms, and also contains small amounts of ammonia, frozen water, methane and other chemical elements. But unlike other large planets, Neptune’s atmosphere contains a lot of ice, which is due to its remote position.

Rings of the planet Neptune

Surely when you hear about planetary rings, Saturn immediately comes to mind, but in fact, it is far from the only owner of rings. Our Neptune also has rings, although not as large and beautiful as those of the planet. Neptune has five rings in total, named after the astronomers who discovered them: Halle, Le Verrier, Lascelles, Arago and Adams.

Neptune's rings consist of small pebbles and cosmic dust (many micron-sized particles), their structure is somewhat similar to the rings of Jupiter and they are quite difficult to notice, since they are black. Scientists believe that Neptune's rings are relatively young, at least much younger than the rings of its neighbor Uranus.

Moons of Neptune

Neptune, like any decent giant planet, has its own satellites, not just one, but thirteen, named after the smaller sea gods of the ancient pantheon.

Particularly interesting is the satellite Triton, discovered, in part, thanks to... beer. The fact is that the English astronomer William Lasing, who actually discovered Triton, made a large fortune by brewing and trading beer, which subsequently allowed him to invest a lot of money and time in his favorite hobby - astronomy (especially since it is not cheap to equip a high-quality observatory).

But what is interesting and unique about Triton? The fact is that this is the only known satellite in our solar system that rotates around the planet in the opposite direction relative to the rotation of the planet itself. In scientific terminology, this is called “retrograde orbit.” Scientists suggest that Triton was not previously a satellite at all, but an independent dwarf planet (like Pluto), which, by the will of fate, fell into the sphere of influence of Neptune’s gravity, essentially captured by the “blue giant.” But it doesn't end there: Neptune's gravity pulls Triton closer and closer, and after several million light years, gravitational forces can tear the satellite apart.

How long does it take to fly to Neptune?

For a long time. This is in short, with modern technology, of course. After all, the distance from Neptune to the Sun is 4.5 billion kilometers, and the distance from Earth to Neptune is 4.3 billion kilometers, respectively. The only satellite sent from Earth to Neptune, Voyager 2, launched in 1977, reached its destination only in 1989, where it photographed the “large dark spot” on the surface of Neptune and observed a number of powerful storms in the planet’s atmosphere.

Planet Neptune video

And at the end of our article, we offer you an interesting video about the planet Neptune.

10 Facts You Need to Know About Neptune
* If the Sun were as big as a regular front door, then the Earth would be the size of a dime, and Neptune would be as big as a baseball.
* Neptune revolves around our Sun. Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun, located about 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles) from the Sun.
* A day on Neptune lasts about 16 hours. Neptune makes a complete revolution around the Sun (a year on Neptune) in 165 Earth years.
* Neptune, like Uranus, is an ice giant. The planet Neptune is primarily made up of a very thick, very cold combination of water (H2O), ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) covering a heavy, Earth-sized, solid core.
* Neptune's atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen (H2), helium (He) and methane (CH4).
* Neptune has 13 registered moons (and one more is awaiting official confirmation). Neptune's moons were named after various sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology.
* Neptune has six rings.
* Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Neptune.
*Neptune cannot support life as we know it.
* Sometimes, during its orbit, the dwarf planet Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune. This is due to the unusual elliptical orbit of Pluto. The history of the discovery of the planet Neptune
Dark, cold and windy, Neptune is the last of the gas giants in our solar system. At a distance 30 times further from the Sun than Earth, the planet takes almost 165 Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun. In 2011, Neptune completed its first orbit around the Sun since its discovery in 1846.
The planet Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846. Neptune was the first planet whose existence was calculated through mathematical calculations before it was discovered through a telescope. Disturbances in the orbit of Uranus led French astronomer Alexis Bouvard to believe that the gravitational attraction of another celestial body may be to blame. German astronomer Johann Halle made the necessary calculations to discover Neptune using a telescope. Planet Neptune What does the name "Neptune" mean?
In accordance with the naming of other planets in the solar system, this new world was given a name from Greek and Roman mythology - Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. Features of the planet Neptune
The clouds of the planet Neptune have a particularly bright blue hue, which is partly due to an as yet unknown compound and the result of the absorption of the red color by the methane that dominates the hydrogen-helium atmosphere of the planet Neptune. Photos of Neptune show a blue planet, which is why it is often called an ice giant because it has a layer of water, ammonia and methane ice under its atmosphere that has a mass 17 times that of Earth and a volume 58 times that of Earth. Neptune's rocky core is believed to be roughly equal to the mass of Earth.
Planet Neptune - characteristics, discovery, satellites.
Despite its great distance from the Sun, meaning that Neptune receives very little sunlight to drive its atmosphere, Neptune's winds can reach 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 kilometers per hour). These are the fastest winds in the solar system. These winds were associated with a large dark storm that was tracked by Voyager 2 in Neptune's southern hemisphere in 1989. It is oval shaped and rotates counterclockwise. The Great Dark Spot was large enough to engulf the entire Earth and is moving toward Neptune's west at 750 miles per hour (1,200 kilometers per hour). This storm seemed to disappear when the Hubble Space Telescope tried to detect it. Hubble also showed the appearance and then decline of two interesting dark spots over the past decade. This Voyager 2 photo shows Neptune's cloud tops. This discovery came as a surprise to the astronomer. Scientists believed that Neptune's atmosphere was more homogeneous
This Voyager 2 photo shows Neptune's cloud tops. This discovery came as a surprise to the astronomer. Scientists believed that the atmosphere of the planet Neptune was more homogeneous.
Neptune's magnetic poles are tilted about 47 degrees relative to the plane of the axis on which it rotates. Thus, the planet Neptune's magnetic field, which is 27 times more powerful than Earth's, swings wildly during each rotation.
The atmosphere of the planet Neptune in August 1989
Neptune revolves around the Sun and makes one full revolution every 165 years.
Every 248 years, Pluto moves within Neptune's orbit for 20 years or so, during which it is closer to the Sun than Neptune. However, Neptune remains the farthest planet from the Sun since Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet in 2006.

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