The Jovian Planets

Neptune

Similar in composition to Uranus (small and cold)

Hydrogen and helium atmosphere, with large traces of methane (blue)

greater interior heat than Uranus drives storms, winds and clouds
active clouds and hurricanes (features come and go)
Great Dark Spot, Scooter

Rings

dusty composition
dense arcs and light arcs – unstable?
shepherd moons push and hold the rings in place

Major and minor moon

Nereid: orbits counter-clockwise, as do most objects in the solar system
Triton: orbits clockwise, rich nitrogen atmosphere, craters and evidence of flooding, geysers – active surface!
minor moons: small and rocky

Neptune, with some horizontal clouds system and a large storm system named Scooter.
Close-up of the storm named Scooter, a bright feature discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
Scooter Thin streaky clouds in the atmosphere of Neptune are believed to be made up of methane ice.
Cloud Streaks Images of Neptune taken two years apart show that the cloud systems can change significantly on such time scales.

Cloud Evolution
Small Dark Spot
Images of Neptune and its cloud systems. [NASA]

	Scooter	Cloud Streaks
	Cloud Evolution	Small Dark Spot
Images of Neptune and its cloud systems. [NASA]