Neptune

Neptune, the other blue planet, is the eighth planet in our solar system. Neptune is an ice giant.

Related Topics: Uranus, Saturn, Pluto, We Don't Planet 

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An illustration of the night sky on Feb. 14 showing the close approach of Venus and Neptune.

Watch Venus snuggle up to Neptune for Valentine's Day tonight

By Robert Lea published

On Tuesday (Feb. 14), Venus and Neptune will join together in the night sky, and the pair will share an arrangement known as a conjunction the next day.

A Voyager 2 image of Neptune's largest moon, Triton, in 1989.

Wild mission concepts would melt into icy moons, surf on sunlight to the ice giants, and more

By Briley Lewis published

From the nearby moon to distant Triton, planetary scientists have a plethora of ideas for how to explore our solar system.

virtual telescope project images of planets and stars in december 2022

See the rare 'planet parade' of 5 naked-eye planets in these photos by an astronomer

By Elizabeth Howell published

Clear skies beckoned Wednesday (Dec. 28) in Rome, allowing the Virtual Telescope Project's Gianluca Masi to get busy with a year-end broadcast.

The James Webb Telescope's image of Neptune, the distant ice giant.

James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning image of Neptune's rings and moons

By Robert Lea last updated

Located at the outer edge of the solar system Neptune has fascinated astronomers since its discovery. Now the James Webb Space Telescope has provided a stunning image of unrivaled detail.

An illustration of the night sky on Friday (Sept. 16) showing Neptune at opposition.

See elusive planet Neptune in opposition tonight (Sept. 16)

By Robert Lea published

Located at the outer edge of the solar system, the distant planet Neptune will make its closest approach to Earth on Friday, when it will be visible in opposition to the sun all through the night.

The full moon rises over the Bondi Beach in Sydney on September 21, 2021.

September full moon 2022 guide: the Harvest Moon

By Jesse Emspak published

September's full moon will be bracketed by close approaches to Saturn on Sept. 8 and Jupiter on Sept. 11.

An artist's depiction of one of the twin Voyager spacecraft exploring interstellar space.

Celebrate NASA's Voyager missions at 45 with this free webcast tonight

By Tariq Malik published

The Voyager missions are icons of cosmic exploration, and you can celebrate their 45th anniversary with a free webcast tonight (Aug. 18).

A composite image of Uranus (left) and Neptune based on Hubble Space Telescope observations.

James Webb Space Telescope will heat up studies of our solar system's 'ice giants'

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has a blue-eyed special among its solar system observations.

Graphic showing Neptune's change of course as it moves across the night sky.

Planet Neptune will go into reverse as it moves in the sky on Tuesday

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

Neptune will enter retrograde on Tuesday (June 28) and will appear to 'reverse its course' as it moves across the sky. Here's how to see it.

This image of the planet Uranus was taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986.

Shades of Uranus: Scientists know why the planet and Neptune are different hues of blue

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

The way each planet's atmosphere responds to methane might be responsible for the different hues of Uranus and Neptune.

An image of Neptune taken by the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (on the right) and one captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (on the left).

Neptune is cooling down and scientists don't know why

By Tereza Pultarova published

Two decades worth of observations revealed unexpected cooling of the solar system's most distant planet Neptune amid astronomical summer.

The four gas giants of our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are collectively known as Jovian planets, meaning “Jupiter-like”.

Gas giants: Jovian planets of our solar system and beyond

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Reference The solar system gas giants – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – also known as Jovian planets are helping us learn more about gaseous exoplanets.

This illustration shows the diamond rain on Neptune.

Yes, there is really 'diamond rain' on Uranus and Neptune

By Paul Sutter published

Hiding beneath the outer layers of some planets, there may be something spectacular: a constant rain of diamonds.

New images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope capture stunning views of the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as part of this year's "grand tour" of the solar system.

Hubble telescope's annual 'grand tour' tracks changes in outer solar system

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

It's time for the solar system's annual weather report!

Artist’s impression of a mushball descending through a giant planet’s atmosphere.

Stinky 'mushball' hailstones on Uranus may explain an atmospheric anomaly there (and on Neptune, too)

By Tereza Pultarova published

A recent discovery of giant ammonia-rich hailstones, dubbed mushballs, on Jupiter might explain why Uranus and Neptune seem to have no ammonia in their atmospheres.

Artist's impression of Kuiper Belt objects.

Cosmic objects with strange orbits discovered beyond Neptune

By Stephanie Pappas published

A six-year search of space beyond the orbit of Neptune has netted 461 newly discovered objects, including four that could shed light on Planet Nine.

The planet Neptune.

Neptune reaches opposition today: How to see the distant planet

By Samantha Mathewson published

The solar system's outermost planet, Neptune, reaches opposition today, and here's how you can catch a glimpse of the distant gas giant.

False-color image of Hyperion captured during Cassini's flyby on September 26 2005.

The 10 weirdest moons in the solar system

By Giles Sparrow, All About Space magazine last updated

Some of the most fascinating worlds in our cosmic neighborhood are not planets, but the moons that orbit around them.

A volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon Io.

NASA has just rejected missions to moons of Jupiter and Neptune. Here's what we would have found out.

By Ashley Spindler last updated

It's been 30 years since NASA last visited Venus, with the Magellan orbiter in 1990.

Uranus and Neptune have each only been visited by one spacecraft, Voyager 2.

A mission to Uranus and Neptune could act as massive gravitational-wave detector

By Paul Sutter published

What if one mission could study the gravitational ripples triggered by some of the most violent events in the universe — on the way to observing the least-known planets of our solar system?