Neptune

Neptune is an ice giant, named after the roman god of the sea. It has 14 known moons named after other sea gods and nymphs. Neptune has 5 main rings and 4 other ring arcs made of dust and debris. Its atosphere is composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Beneath the atmosphere is an ocean of water and ammonia, with a small, rocky core in the center. It is about 2.8 billion miles away from the sun and about 4 times wider than earth, about the same size as uranus. Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft to visit neptune so far. Neptune experiences seasons, just like earth, except each season is over 40 earth years long, since a year on neptune is 165 earth years.

Neptune is the densest and windiest of the ice giants. Its winds are 9 times stronger than earth’s. It has clouds of frozen methane and they are constantly being whipped around by the strong winds. Due to the intense pressure, it causes diamonds to form and the gravity pulls them down the rocky core. Therefore, Neptune has diamond rain.