apparent size: 2.3 seconds
apparent magnitude: 7.9
Neptune
Like Uranus, it's not very spectacular in a small telescope, but still, it's fun to say "I've seen it!". Triton, at magnitude 13.5, is just visible in an 8 inch telescope.
View through a small telescope:
apparent size: 2.3 seconds
apparent magnitude: 7.9
All planet co-ordinates and observing notes (includes a "finder chart" for Neptune)
Voyager 2 photo
click on the image for a full-screen view
View from the Hubble Space Telescope
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This animation was taken from the movie Voyager Science Summary (CMP 346). It was digitized by Calvin J. Hamilton.
Hubble Space Telescope Movie of Neptune's Rotation and Weather
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been used to assemble a time-lapse color movie showing a full 16-hour rotation of the distant planet, Neptune. The movie, made from a series of Hubble observations over nine consecutive orbits, allows astronomers to track cloud motion on the planet. The clear images show Neptune's powerful equatorial jet stream, immense storms, and dark spot in Neptune's northern hemisphere, first identified last year by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team using Hubble. The movie was made by a team of scientists led by Lawrence Sromovsky of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center and were presented at the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, in Tuscon Arizona.
Global color mosaic of Triton, taken by Voyager 2
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Another view of Triton
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This picture is a global orthographic view of Triton centered at -40° latitude and 0° longitude. It was created from images obtained by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. (Courtesy A. Tayfun Oner). This image is Copyrighted © 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton. Any commercial/for-profit use of this image needs to be addressed to Calvin J. Hamilton.
Written by Stephen R. Kessell
Updated 27 January, 2001
