THE EXPLORATION OF NEPTUNE

Neptune was first observed by a German astronomer, Johann Gottfried Galle on 23 September 1846, however the credit for its discovery goes to John Couch Adams (Cambridge, England) and Urbain John Joseph LeVerrier (France); two mathematicians who independently predicted the existence of an 8th planet in the early 1800s.

In the final phase of its mission to explore to the edge of the solar system, Voyager 2 flew by Neptune on 24 August 1989, almost exactly 12 years after it was launched. Voyager 2 returned a mass of valuable data about Neptune and its ring system. Voyager pictures showed Neptune to have a mass of fast moving clouds and a huge feature, called the Great Dark Spot, in its southern hemisphere.

Voyager also discovered six new minor moons and flew close enough to Triton, Neptune�s large moon, to capture pictures of its intriguing surface. These pictures showed geysers erupting violently in the southern region resulting in dark plume-shaped surface deposits.

Spacecraft Launch date Arrival date Mission Voyager 2 20 Aug 1977 24 Aug 1989 Neptune/Triton flyby