Neptune

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Hamilton, New Zealand
August 2019

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived."
- Joseph Campbell.

When I was 4 years old, I recall my father teaching me two particularly useful things. One of them was chess; its problem-solving and strategic aspects appealed to me greatly. The other was the mystery and individuality of the planets in our solar system. He taught me many other things, of course, but these two things particularly stand out.

To me, the most fascinating of the planets was always the eighth planet from the sun, that solitary individual known as Neptune (1,2). Why?
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At an average distance of 4.5 billion kilometers, Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun - 50% further than its neighbour, ​Uranus. Moreover, although its other neighbour Pluto often treads further from the sun, Pluto has now been reclassified as a dwarf planet; it no longer qualifies as an official planet. Thus, the final planet is Neptune.

​Neptune is the only planet that is so far out there, it's not visible to the unaided eye, at any time. Until recently, it was even difficult for telescopes to capture detailed views of the eighth planet. Until Voyager 2 wandered by in 1989, until the Hubble Space Telescope was put into orbit, and until larger Earth-based telescopes with adaptive optics were built, Neptune's appearance remained obscure.
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Neptune, invisible to the naked eye.

Due to its lack of visibility, Neptune holds the distinction of being the only planet to be discovered through mathematical prediction rather than direct observation. In the early 1800s, French astronomer, Alexis Bouvard published orbital tables of Uranus, and noted that Uranus deviated from the predictions of the tables, deviations that were ultimately shown to be due to the gravitational attraction of Neptune.

Neptune...a solitary enigma of finality, obscurity, and attraction.

Serene Neptune

Yet there is more to Neptune than its solitude. There is its serenity.

The colour, a radiant azure blue. Blue like Earth; but not like Earth. Neptune's atmosphere is 80% hydrogen, 19% helium, 1% methane; it is the tiny amount of methane that absorbs red light and reflects the blue. Neptune reflects the blue end of the spectrum of sunlight; it reflects the resplendence of the sun.
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​​Then there are the Neptunian rings. Faint and fragmented as they are, Neptune's boasts several rings consisting of particles of ice. In fact, there are three of them - the Galle ring is the nearest to the planet, the Adams ring the furthest, and the Le Verrier ring occupies the middle. Neptune's rings are unstable; even compared to the 1989 Voyager 2 visit, they have decayed in parts. The rings are impermanent.
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Neptune's companion, Triton.

And let us not forget the moons - or shall I say, moon. There are 14 moons orbiting around Neptune, but one of them, Triton, contains more than 99.5% of all the orbiting mass. Triton is the only moon in retrograde orbit around its planet, meaning it travels in the opposite direction to Neptune's own orbit. Thus, Triton was probably a dwarf planet like Pluto, and it was "captured' by Neptune. Sadly, Triton spirals towards Neptune, and will be torn apart in 3-4 billion years, when its own gravity is no longer sufficient to prevent Neptune's gravity from tearing it apart. Inevitably, Neptune will destroy its main companion on its journey.

Neptune...a serene secret of reflection, impermanence, and inevitability.

Savage Neptune

​Yet there is still another side to Neptune. Its savagery.

Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system, reaching up to 2,200 km per hour. That is a blistering velocity; it is difficult to imagine a faster-than-sound wind. Yet that is Neptune. Supersonic winds.
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Then there are the clouds. Given Neptune's great distance from the sun, it contains frigid clouds with some of the coldest temperatures in the solar system. One particularly prominent cloud group, a perpetual and speedy patch of cirrus clouds nicknamed The Scooter, whips around the planet at an incredible velocity.

​Lastly, the Dark Spots of Neptune. There are two; well, there were. The Great Dark Spot, a large, Earth-sized, anti-cyclonic storm, sometimes present, sometimes not; intermittent, ever-changing, the Great Dark Spot bears the fastest winds of all. There is also a Small Dark Spot, a more diminutive storm photographed by Voyager 2 in 1989 that has long since vanished.
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The Great Dark Spot, The Scooter below it, and the Small Dark Spot below that.

Neptune...a savage mystery of supersonic maelstroms, frigid tempests, and colossal storms.

Neptune; it stands apart from the others, a solitary, serene, savage world.

A difficult individual to love; for some, impossible not to.

Solace.

References
(1) https://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html.
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune.