Trolls Around The Solar System (Part 11 - Neptune)

The previous parts can be read here: Part 1 (Mercury) - Part 2 (Venus) - Part 3 (Mars) - Part 4 (The Asteroid Belt) - Part 5 (Jupiter) - Part 6 (Jovian Moons) - Part 7 (Saturn) - Part 8 (The Moons Of Saturn) - Part 9 (Uranus) - Part 10 (The Moon Of Uranus)

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The trip to Uranus had finished and now the rocket was approaching Neptune, the farthest planet of our solar system. Another spinning mass of gasses, pretty much like Uranus. Will Neptune be the trolls' last stop? Are they going back to Earth after their tour ends? We shall find out soon...

- Wow! Look at the amazing blue color of this planet! X54 admired.

- Neptune didn't get his name out of chance. The Romans named him after the god of the seas, X31 explained.

- Neptune is the smallest of the four giants, almost four times the size of our Earth, but it holds more mass on it, being the densest, T-800 said.

- And what is it made of? X42 asked.

- Just like Uranus, the planet is made of a hot and dense fuid. Water, ammonia and methane are floating around a rocky core. The water is probably boiling, but the cold clouds keep the pressure levels so high, that the water cannot eveporate and get away. The temperatures up there can drop close to -200°C, T-800 added.

- Its atmosphere is made just like Uranus' from mostly hydrogen, some helium and traces of methane, X31 continued. But if you look at those two icy gas giants you will see that Neptune has a more vivid blue tone. There should be another element in its armosphere responsible for that color.

- Note also that the atmosphere is divided into two layers, the lower troposphere with temperatures falling as altitude rises and the upper stratosphere where temperatures follow the opposite pattern, T-800 added. The pressure in the lower parts of the atmosphere is so high that smog of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon snowflakes never make it to the surface as they melt on their way down.

- Does Neptune have a weird day-year ratio? X42 asked.

- It does. A day here lasts about 16 hours, as the planet makes a full rotation in that time. A year, on the other hand, takes 165 Earth years, X31 replied.

The rocket is now getting even closer to the planet and X54 shouts:

- It looks like the planet is spinning like crazy!

- It's the winds sweeping the clouds, X54, T-800 said. Neptune's winds can reach up to 2,000 kilometers per hour.

- Wow! At a speed like that, they are supersonic winds, X42 noticed.

- Tell them about the Great Dark Spot, T-800, X31 suggested.

- Right, about 30 years ago there was a raging storm on the southern hemisphere that kept going for a few years before it ceased. Several more have appeared and disappeared ever since. 

- Hey, guys! You remember how long seasons are on Uranus, right? X31 asked. 

- Almost 20 years?

- Correct, X42! But Neptune has the longest seasons in the whole solar system. With an axis tilted a bit more than Earth's, being 30 times farther from the Sun and taking 165 years to make a full rotation around the Sun, seasons here last for 4 decades!

- Wooah! If someone lived on Neptune, they'd probably get to see only two seasons in their whole lifetime, X54 sounded surprised.

- Given the fact that the planet is extremely inhospitable and no one lives there I don't think so, T-800 replied.

- Oh! Another interesting fact is that this planet's magnetic poles are not in alignment with its north and south poles, X31 said. They are tilted a little less than on Uranus, but the strong magnetic field of Neptune changes violently on every rotation.

- And we almost forgot to tell you that the planet emits more energy than it receives from the Sun! T-800 added. Neptune is too far away from the center of the solar system, meaning that it gets less energy from the Sun. Interestingly enough, though, the planet is a bright body that generates almost 2.5 times more energy than it gets.

- Why is that? X42 was curious.

- Well, we still don't know for sure, but it could be the energy released from the methane converting to hydrocarbons and diamonds, T-800 answered.

- Are there any rings or moons here? X54 asked.

- Yes and yes, X31 said. Neptune has five thin rings surrounding it. They are probably made of ice and dust. There are also 13 known moons and another one pending confirmation.

- Neptune is beautiful! Too bad it's so far and no one has ever seen it. Is it true that only one mission has ever made here? X42 wanted to know.

- It is, only Voyager 2 in 1989 managed to come so far, X31 replied.

- Voyager 2 and now we! X54 cheered.

- Haha! That's right! X31 agreed. 

- So, we are here at the last planet of the solar system, but I thought the planets used to be nine, X42 was a bit confused.

- Pluto was considered the ninth planet until it was degraded to a dwarf planet, T-800 explained.

- Dwarf planet? Like the ones in Snow White? X54 couldn't understand.

- No silly! X31 started explaining again. Dwarf planets are basically planets only they haven't managed to clear the path of their orbit from free floating debris. We could see all that from up close if you want to continue our journey to the edge of the solar system.

- Of course we want to! the team screamed in enthusiasm.

- Then let's keep going...

And the DIY rocket continued its journey to meet Pluto. On the way the trolls were still talking about Neptune and its moons and X31 tried to clarify the differences between a planet and a dwarf planet, so that the trolls would not have any unanswered questions when they get to Pluto.

To be continued...

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References

solarsystem.nasa.gov
space-facts.com
space.com
amazing-space.stsci.edu
sciencing.com

* Non-credited images and original story by @ruth-girl - Steemit, 2018  

Thank you so much for your time!

Until my next post,
Steem on and keep smiling, people!