SECRET BEHIND THE FORMATION OF HIGH SPEED WINDS ON NEPTUNE
Neptune is the eighth planet in the solar system if we consider its distance from the Sun. Neptune is also the fourth largest and third heaviest planet in our solar system. It is seventeen times heavier than earth. Atmosphere of Neptune is very thick and most of it is composed of gas. Due to this reason, Neptune is considered as a gas giant. Neptune’s atmosphere mostly consists of hydrogen and helium gas and due to the presence of small amounts of methane, the planet appears blue in color.
Galileo illustrated the presence of Neptune near Jupiter in his drawings but he failed to categorize it as a planet. Neptune was the first planet to be discovered with the help of mathematical calculations instead of a telescope. The planet was first discovered by the astronomers Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams in 1846. Neptune was named after the Roman God of Sea.
As of now, only one spacecraft has visited Neptune and it was NASA’s Voyager 2. The space craft did a quick flyby of the planet and its closest encounter happened on August 25, 1989. Neptune is the last planet to have been visited by a spacecraft. When Voyager flew by Neptune, strange weather events were observed. In 1989, Voyager 2 observed a very large cyclonic storm on Neptune which is known as the Great Dark Spot. But when Hubble telescope observed Neptune on November 2, 1994, there was no Great Dark Spot on the planet but instead, a new storm similar to the Great Dark Spot was found in northern hemisphere of the planet.
To continue reading this article, visit the original website below:
