10 Interesting Facts About Neptune (The Smallest Ice Giant!!!)

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and last of the known planets. While it is the third largest planet with respect to mass, it is only the fourth largest in terms of diameter. Due to its blue coloration, Neptune was named after the Roman god of the Sea.

Interesting Facts about Neptune:

Neptune is the eighth planet in our solar system, and is named for the Roman god of the sea

The Greek counterpart is Poseidon. It's also the most distant planet from the sun... a distinction it won when Pluto was demoted to the status of "dwarf planet" in 2006. Neptune was also the first planet to have its existence predicted by mathematical calculations, before it was actually seen by a telescope.

Neptune is the smallest of the ice giants

It has 13 known moons, and is similar in size to Uranus, making it the smallest of the four gas giant planets in the outer solar system. Neptune's atmosphere contains hydrogen, helium and methane, giving it a blue color that is largely the result of the absorption of red light by the methane in the atmosphere.

Neptune's gravity is slightly stronger than Earth's

A 100 pound person on Earth would weigh 114 pounds on Neptune.

A day on Neptune, takes about 16 Earth hour

Like the other planets, Neptune has an elliptical orbit. It is 2.8 billion miles from the sun on average, and takes 165 Earth years to complete a single orbit. In 2011, it completed its first full orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. A day on Neptune, or one revolution on its axis, takes about 16 Earth hour.

Neptune's surface temperatures can reach a frigid -392 degrees Fahrenheit

But in the core of this icy planet, you'll find temperatures comparable to the surface of the Sun! This huge temperature difference between the core and the surface helps create the strongest winds in the solar system -- reaching speeds of 1200 to 1500 miles per hour!

Neptune has a storm similar the Great Red Spot on Jupiter

NASA’s Voyage 2 reveled a giant storm called the "Great Dark Spot," and a patch of cloud called "the scooter" because it circled the planet very fast. In 1994, the Hubble telescope discovered that the dark spot found in 1989 had disappeared and another dark spot had developed.

Neptune has a very thin collection of rings

NASA's Voyager 2 revealed some intriguing new features on its visit to Neptune in 1989. It showed six rings of varying thicknesses. They are most likely made up of ice particles and grains of dust with a carbon-based substance coating them.

Neptune has 14 known moons

The largest of these moons is Triton – a frozen world which spits out particles of nitrogen ice and dust from below its surface. It is believed that Titan was caught by the immense gravitational pull of Neptune and is regarded as one of the coldest worlds in our solar system.

The largest Neptunian moon, Triton, was discovered just 17 days after Neptune itself was discovered

Only one spacecraft has flown by Neptune

In 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft swept past the planet. It returned the first close-up images of the Neptune system. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has also studied this planet, as have a number of ground-based telescopes.