Neptune
The farthest known planet from the Sun.
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun, an ice giant 17 times Earth's mass and the densest of the giant planets. It orbits the Sun every 164.8 years at 30.1 AU.
It is invisible to the naked eye and was found by prediction: after irregularities in Uranus's orbit, Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams calculated its position, and Johann Galle observed it on 23 September 1846. Its largest moon, Triton, was found soon after.
Quick Facts
- Discoverer
- Johann Galle
- Urbain Le Verrier
- John Couch Adams
- Discovered
- 23 September 1846
- Adjectives
- Neptunian (n, ɛ, p, ˈ, tj, uː, n, i, ən), Poseidean
- Named after
- Latin Neptunus, via French Neptune
- Synodic period
- 367.49 days
- Satellites
- 16
- Flattening
- 0.0171, 0.0013
- Surface gravity
- 11.27 m/s2
More in Celestial Bodies & Worlds
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