Science & Tech
Neptune is an ice giant about 4.5 billion kilometers from the sun, or 30 times Earth's distance, with an equatorial diameter of 50,000 kilometers, 3.9 times Earth's diameter, and a mass 17.2 times Earth's mass. A 50-kilogram person would weigh 56 kilograms on Neptune. Its year lasts 164.8 Earth years and its day lasts 16 hours 11 minutes, and 13 moons are known. First observed in 1846 by Galle and d'Arrest based on predictions from independent calculations by La Verrier and Adams, it was the only major planet discovered using mathematical calculations. La Verrier named it for the Roman God of the Sea, possibly because of its vivid blue hue. Its atmosphere is made up of hydrogen, helium, and methane, with ices possibly surrounding an approximately Earth-sized solid core, its vivid blue color comes from methane in the atmosphere, its intense winds can reach 2000 kilometers per hour, and it has a system of faint rings.
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