The Planet Neptune
Charles Urella
Professor Graudreau
SCI 103
Homework Assignment #1
7/10/2013
The Planet Neptune Neptune, the eighth and last planet in the solar system, it is so-called after the Roman god of the sea. This magnificent blue gargantuan is quite similar to Uranus in scope and composition, but much further than the Sun, it takes Neptune about 164 years to orbit the Sun. Like other gaseous planets Neptune turns at a tremendous speed on its axis, making one day about 16 hours long. A visual of Neptune cannot be perceived with the naked eye; however, one can view a pinpoint of the planet through the usage of a pair of binoculars. (www.solarview.com). The distance from one planet to another is persistently shifting because both bodies are moving through space. When the planet Neptune and the Planet Earth line up on the same side of the Sun, at their closest they are approximately 2.7 billion miles, (4.3 billion kilometers) away from each other. Yet, when the planets are on the opposite sides of the Sun, they can place as many as 2.9 billion miles (4.7 billion kilometers) in the middle of each planet regarding remoteness. (www.wiley.com). The most commonly found elements on the planet Neptune are listed as follows: hydrogen, helium, methane, hydrogen deuteride, and ethane. Accordingly Neptune is much like Uranus as well as the other colossal planets, with a thick atmosphere of 80% hydrogen, 19 % helium, 1% methane, and 1 % ammonia, with a relatively low density, and a rapid period of rotation (phillips.seti.org). Neptune’s atmosphere encompasses to excessive complexities, progressively changing into water and other “melted ices” over a denser, roughly Earth sized solid core. Neptune’s distinctive bluish tone is a result of the atmospheric methane. Although the planets color is a more vivid and brighter blue than its distant neighbor Uranus, scientists have confidence in that there may be an unspecified element which
Professor Graudreau
SCI 103
Homework Assignment #1
7/10/2013
The Planet Neptune Neptune, the eighth and last planet in the solar system, it is so-called after the Roman god of the sea. This magnificent blue gargantuan is quite similar to Uranus in scope and composition, but much further than the Sun, it takes Neptune about 164 years to orbit the Sun. Like other gaseous planets Neptune turns at a tremendous speed on its axis, making one day about 16 hours long. A visual of Neptune cannot be perceived with the naked eye; however, one can view a pinpoint of the planet through the usage of a pair of binoculars. (www.solarview.com). The distance from one planet to another is persistently shifting because both bodies are moving through space. When the planet Neptune and the Planet Earth line up on the same side of the Sun, at their closest they are approximately 2.7 billion miles, (4.3 billion kilometers) away from each other. Yet, when the planets are on the opposite sides of the Sun, they can place as many as 2.9 billion miles (4.7 billion kilometers) in the middle of each planet regarding remoteness. (www.wiley.com). The most commonly found elements on the planet Neptune are listed as follows: hydrogen, helium, methane, hydrogen deuteride, and ethane. Accordingly Neptune is much like Uranus as well as the other colossal planets, with a thick atmosphere of 80% hydrogen, 19 % helium, 1% methane, and 1 % ammonia, with a relatively low density, and a rapid period of rotation (phillips.seti.org). Neptune’s atmosphere encompasses to excessive complexities, progressively changing into water and other “melted ices” over a denser, roughly Earth sized solid core. Neptune’s distinctive bluish tone is a result of the atmospheric methane. Although the planets color is a more vivid and brighter blue than its distant neighbor Uranus, scientists have confidence in that there may be an unspecified element which