Welcome to our 8th planet, Neptune. You are now More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth or a distance of about 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers). Neptune takes about 16 hours to rotate once (a Neptunian day), and about 165 Earth years to orbit the sun (a Neptunian year). In 2011 Neptune completed its first 165-year orbit since its discovery in 1846. Neptune is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a hot, dense fluid of “icy” materials – water, methane, and ammonia – above a small rocky core.
Neptune’s atmosphere is made up mostly of molecular hydrogen, atomic helium, and methane. Neptune has 14 known moons that are named after sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology. Neptune has at least five main rings and four more ring arcs, which are clumps of dust and debris likely formed by the gravity of a nearby moon.
Neptune is our solar system’s windiest world. Winds whip clouds of frozen methane across the planet at speeds of more than 2,000 km/h (1,200 mph).
A really cool fact: Because of the dwarf planet Pluto’s elliptical orbit, Pluto is sometimes closer to the Sun than Neptune.
Figure this: Multiply your weight by 1.19 to find out how much you would weigh if you could stand on Neptune.
You have come to the end of the planets. If you were to keep walking the next object you would encounter would be the dwarf planet, Pluto. You would also be standing in the water. So we will end here.
Please let us know about your experience with our Solar System walk by email at education@cranepoint.net. Thank you for coming.
Reference:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/neptune/overview/
https://www.livescience.com/33356-weight-on-planets-mars-moon.html
