Neptune
Aerocapture is a Free Lunch in Space Exploration
This article was updated on 11/28/23 When spacecraft return to Earth, they don't need to shed all their velocity by…
Want to Explore Neptune? Use Triton’s Atmosphere to Put on the Brakes
Aerobraking is commonly used to slow down spacecraft when they arrive at various planetary systems. It requires a spacecraft to…
Neptune's Cloud Cover is Linked to the Solar Cycle
Whenever Neptune reaches its closest point in the sky to Earth, its portrait is taken by the Hubble Space Telescope…
Scientists Examine Geological Processes of Monad Regio on Neptune’s Largest Moon, Triton
In a recent study submitted to the journal Icarus, a team of researchers at the International Research School of Planetary…
Will Triton finally answer, ‘Are we alone?’
We recently examined how and why Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, could answer the longstanding question: Are we alone? With its…
China is Considering a Nuclear-Powered Mission to Neptune
A team of Chinese scientists have proposed a mission that would explore Neptune and its largest moon Triton using a…
The Rings of Uranus and Neptune Could Help map Their Interiors
Mapping the interior of the ice giants is difficult, to say the least. Not only are they far away and…
Why are Uranus and Neptune Different Colors? Haze
Way back in the late 1980s, the Voyager 2 spacecraft visited Uranus and Neptune. During the flybys, we got to…
Neptune’s Temperature is Behaving Strangely
One of the great things about science is that it builds on itself over time. Data collected decades ago is…
Why do Uranus and Neptune Have Magnetic Fields? Hot ice
The outer “ice giant” planets, Neptune and Uranus, have plenty of mysteries. One of the biggest is where exactly they…