Planet Neptune Facts

Neptune is the eighth and farthest-known Solar planet from the Sun. It is known for its beautiful blue color. Our Neptune facts for kids will give you lots of cool and interesting facts about Neptune.

Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and the most distant in the solar system. While it is the third largest planet with respect to mass, it is only the fourth largest in terms of diameter. It is also our solar system’s windiest world.

Due to its beautiful blue color, Neptune was named after the Roman god of the Sea, Poseidon.

One “Neptunian day” is 16 hours and One “Neptunian year” is around 165 Earth years.

Neptune Quick Facts

Diameter: 49,528 km
Mass: 1.02 × 10^26 kg (17 Earths)
Temperature: – 330 °F (- 201 °C)
Position: 8th planet in our solar system
Moons: 14 (Triton)
Rings: 5
Color: Azure (Blue)
Planet Type: Ice Giant
Orbit Distance: 4,498,396,441 km (30.10 AU)
Lenght of year: 60,190 Earth Days (164.8 years)
Discovery: Urbain Le Verrier & Johann Galle in September 23rd 1846

Below, we have prepared a list of best interesting facts about Neptune. Maybe some of them you will already know but some Neptune facts for kids will definitely surprise you. So let’s start the amazing journey of Planet Neptune.

FACT 1. Neptune is about four times wider than Earth. It takes Neptune 164.8 Earth years (60,190 Earth days) to orbit the Sun. On 11 July 2011, Neptune completed its first full orbit since its discovery in 1846.

FACT 2. Neptune is the Coldest and windiest Planet in the Solar System. The average temperature on Neptune is about -221.45 degrees Celsius (-366.6 °F).

FACT 3. Due to its beautiful blue color, Neptune was named after the Roman god of the Sea. In Greek, Neptune is called Poseidon.

FACT 4. Why is Neptune Blue? Neptune’s atmosphere is made up of hydrogen (80%), helium (19%) and trace amounts of the methane. The methane absorbs the red light from the sun but reflects the blue light back into space. This is why Neptune appears blue.

Did You Know?
” 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)—close to the top speed of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. Earth’s most powerful winds hit only about 400 km/h (250 mph).(source)”

FACT 5. The ice giant Neptune was the first planet located through mathematical calculations.

FACT 6. Neptune was discovered in 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle using calculations by Urban Le Verrier of France and John Cauch Adams of Britain. Neptune is a joint British-French-German discovery.

FACT 7. But before these astronomers, the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei have seen Neptune. He marked it as a star in one of his drawings. So that honor also goes to astronomer Galileo Galilei.

FACT 8. Neptune is the smallest of the ice giants out of the two ice giants in the Solar System, Uranus and Neptune.

FACT 9. Neptune has the second largest gravity of any planet in the solar system – second only to Jupiter.

FACT 10. Neptune has 14 known moons which are named after sea gods. The largest of these moons is Triton – a frozen world that spits out nitrogen ice and dust particles from below its surface. Triton was discovered in 1846.

FACT 11. Triton, largest moon of Neptune is one of the Coldest Places in Our Solar System.

FACT 12. The only spacecraft that has ever visited Neptune was NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989. It captured the first close-up images of the Neptunian system. It took 4 hours and 6 minutes to send the signal from voyager 2 back to earth.

FACT 13. Neptune has Rings though its rings are very faint. It has at least five main rings named Galle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams. Neptune also has four more ring arcs.

FACT 14. Neptune has a very active climate. The Great Dark Spot, one of the largest storms ever seen was recorded in 1989. It lasted about five years and is roughly the size of Earth.

FACT 15. Neptune is Lifeless due to its extreme temperatures and pressures. Neptune cannot support life.

Don’t forget to attemp our solar system quiz to test your knowledge. For more facts on Neptune, visit here. Also visit Neptune facts NASA website for kids.