V oyager 2 saw a smaller dark storm system with a bright core of feathery clouds. It also saw many wispy cirrus like clouds on Earth. Some of these clouds cast shadows on deeper cloud decks below. This observation marked the first detection of vertical relief in the atmosphere of an outer planet. The cirrus like clouds changed rapidly, often forming and dissipating over periods of several hours. These surprisingly fast changes imply that the weather of Neptune is perhaps as dynamic and variable as that of the Earth.

N eptune's largest satellite Triton was discovered shortly after Neptune in 1846 by William Lassell. Triton had a very unusual orbit, much like Neptune's other satellite Nereid. Voyager 2 found that Nereid reflects about 12% of the sunlight that falls on it. Voyager 2 also discovered six new satellites, giving Neptune a total of eight moons. Proteus was the largest of the newly discovered satellites. It is slightly larger than Nereid, but it is much darker reflecting only about 6% of the sunlight that strikes it. Larissa, is an irregularly shaped, dark was discovered during the planetıs exploration by Voyager 2. The irregular outlines of Proteus and Larissa suggest that they have remained cold and icy throughout much of their history.