Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun making it the most distant in the solar system.
This gas giant planet may have formed much closer to the Sun in early solar system history before migrating to its present position.
Despite being smaller than Uranus, Neptune has a greater mass. Below its heavy atmosphere, Uranus is made of layers of hydrogen, helium, and methane gases. They enclose a layer of water, ammonia and methane ice. The inner core of the planet is made of rock.
Neptune Facts
- Equatorial Diameter: 49,528 km
- Polar Diameter: 48,682 km
- Mass: 1.02 x 10^26 kg (17 Earths)
- Moons: 14 (Triton)
- Rings: 5
- Orbit Distance: 4,498,396,441 km (30.10 AU)
- Orbit Period: 60,190 days (164.8 years)
- Surface Temperature: -201°C
- Discovery Date: September 23rd 1846
- Discovered By: Urbain Le Verrier & Johann Galle