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Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times the mass of Earth and slightly more massive, but denser and smaller, than fellow ice giant Uranus.
Triton dominates the Neptunian moon system, with over 99.5% of its total mass. This imbalance may reflect the elimination of many of Neptune's original satellites following Triton's capture. [4][5] Triton (lower left) compared to the Moon (upper left) and Earth (right), to scale. Triton is the seventh-largest moon and sixteenth-largest object ...
The latter have orbits whose periods are in a simple ratio to that of Neptune: for example, going around the Sun twice for every three times that Neptune does, or once for every two. The classical belt consists of objects having no resonance with Neptune, and extends from roughly 39.4 to 47.7 AU. [201]
Nereid is the third-largest moon of Neptune. It has a prograde but very eccentric orbit and is believed to be a former regular satellite that was scattered to its current orbit through gravitational interactions during Triton's capture. [30] Water ice has been spectroscopically detected on its surface.
Geology portal. v. t. e. The geology of solar terrestrial planets mainly deals with the geological aspects of the four terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and one terrestrial dwarf planet: Ceres. Earth is the only terrestrial planet known to have an active hydrosphere.
Exploration of Neptune. Photograph of Neptune in true colour by Voyager 2 in 1989. [a] Neptune's south pole is slightly above the bottom of the image. Neptune has been directly explored by one space probe, Voyager 2, in 1989. As of 2024, there are no confirmed future missions to visit the Neptunian system, although a tentative Chinese mission ...
The Great Dark Spot (also known as GDS-89, for Great Dark Spot, 1989) was one of a series of dark spots on Neptune similar in appearance to Jupiter 's Great Red Spot. In 1989, GDS-89 was the first Great Dark Spot on Neptune to be observed by NASA 's Voyager 2 space probe. Like Jupiter's spot, the Great Dark Spots are anticyclonic storms.
Proteus (/ ˈ p r oʊ t i ə s / PROH-tee-əs), also known as Neptune VIII, is the second-largest Neptunian moon, and Neptune's largest inner satellite. Discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989, it is named after Proteus , the shape-changing sea god of Greek mythology . [ 11 ]