Neptune, a distant planet
Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun. It is about the same size as Uranus and is also about four times as wide as Earth. The planet is mostly made up of gases, but Neptune’s centre may be a mixture of slush and rocks.
Scientists are still learning about Neptune. Before 1989, it was thought that Neptune had only two moons. But that year the U.S. space probe Voyager 2 flew past and discovered six smaller, dark moons. In 2002 and 2003, five additional moons were discovered, bringing the total to 13. Neptune also has four faint rings that scientist think are made of dust.
Uranus helped scientists discover Neptune. As Uranus travels around the sun, it slows down at certain points. Scientists realized that what slows Uranus down is the gravity of another planet pulling on it. They began to look for that other planet and found Neptune!
Picture Credit : Google
