APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Neptune: Big Blue Giant
Explanation: This picture was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 - the only spacecraft ever to visit Neptune. Neptune will be the farthest planet from the Sun until 1999, when the elliptical orbit of Pluto will cause it to once again resume this status. Neptune , like Uranus , is composed mostly of liquid water, methane and ammonia, is surrounded by a thick gas atmosphere of mostly hydrogen and helium, and has many moons and rings. Neptune 's moon Triton is unlike any other and has active volcanoes. The nature of Triton 's unusual orbit around Neptune is the focus of much discussion and speculation.
| Date | August 17, 1995 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: NASA, Voyager 2, Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



