Neptune is usually the 8^th planet in our solar system. However, sometimes it crosses orbits with Pluto and becomes the 9^th planet and furthest from the sun. Neptune is about 2.8 billion miles away from the sun! That’s about 2.7 million miles farther away from the sun than earth is.

Heated Within?

Neptune seems to be trapping heat in its atmosphere. At the tops of its towering white clouds, this planet is usually around -350 degrees Fahrenheit. I know this is quite cold, but it is the same temperature as Uranus, which is one billion miles closer to the sun than Neptune.

What’s Wrong With The Heat Within?

Unfortunately, the heat trapped within Neptune’s atmosphere causes violent winds. Neptune’s winds can reach up to 1,500 miles per hour! These winds are the strongest winds in our solar system! Along with strong winds, Neptune also has high towering white clouds. The clouds are made up of methane hydrate, not like Earth's clouds which are made of water. One cloud patch named Scooter, flies around this planet every 16 hours. It changes size and shape over time.

The Big Storm

Furious storms break through Neptune. In 1989, one of the biggest storms in our solar system appeared as a big, dark oval with scattered clouds around it. Scientists observed this particularly large storm in the planet’s atmosphere. They named it the "great dark spot". It was named after

Jupiter’s huge storm, the great red spot. The great dark spot was not nearly as big as Jupiter’s great red spot, but it was still very large. It was about the size of Earth. Winds climbed up to speeds of 745 miles per hour. While Jupiter’s great red spot lasted over hundreds of years, the storms on Neptune seem to have very short lives. The photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope showed the storm ended in 1994.

Rings? Or No Rings?

By the 1980’s, scientists found that Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus all have rings. Astronomers wondered if Neptune had rings too. From Earth, no rings could be seen around Neptune. When the space probe Voyager II studied Neptune in 1989, it spotted ring arcs that the astronomers had suspected. A ring arc is a partial ring. As the probe got closer, astronomers could see that the arcs were actually part of one complete ring. Voyager II found that Neptune had four rings in all. The two main rings are very bright and quite narrow. They appear to be made up of fine dust and small particles. The outermost ring contains very bright clumps of particles. Neptune’s other two rings are a lot wider but do not have any brightness to them. The ring closest to Neptune is about 1,100 miles wide. The other faint ring is about 3,600 miles wide.  I don’t know what scientists will find in the future, but for now, this is all we know. Neptune has many mysteries that may never be solved.

Kerrod, Robin. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000.

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