Neptune (Greek Poseidon) 1. In Roman mythology, the name given to the Greek sea god Poseidon, son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus (Roman Jupiter) and Hades (Roman Pluto). He was married to the granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus, the water nymph Amphitrite, and was the father of Polyphemus, the Cyclops. Neptune constantly hindered Odysseus' attempts to return home for tricking and injuring Polyphemus. Poseidon helped the Greeks during the Trojan War. He is usually shown as a bearded man holding a trident and standing in a shell-chariot being drawn over the sea by dolphins. His festival, called the Neptunalia, was celebrated by the Romans on July 23, when water was scarcest. Poseidon liked to surprise nymphs with monsters, and concocted the octopus, the blowfish, and the seapolyp for their entertainment. He was revered by those who lived near the sea and feared by inlanders as well, for his floods reached far into the country. Poseidon provided bountiful support to generations of sailors, but his mood could change in an instant, producing terrible storms that would wreck fleets and drown those venturing into the sea. 2. The eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest by diameter, being smaller in diameter but larger in mass than Uranus. Its equatorial diameter is 49,500 kilometers (30,760 miles) and if it were hollow, it could contain nearly 60 Earths. Neptune is the outermost planet of the gas giants, orbiting the Sun every 165 years and with a day lasting 16 hours and 6.7 minutes. Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle, of the Berlin Observatory, and Louis d'Arrest, an astronomy student, through mathematical predictions made by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, abd it has eight moons, six of which were found by Voyager. Related videos. Related books: Hercules: The Wrath of Poseidon. More books.

Escorpion is a dynamic group consisting of two sets of brothers to form a second-generation band.  George and Mike Martinez are from Holland, MI; Steve and Ernie Ortiz reside in Fennville, MI.  Although all four members were born and raised in the state of Michigan, they have become proficient in the many styles of Mexican music.  All four musicians have combined their musical knowledge and talents to create the sound of Escorpion.  
 
The band's numerous accomplishments include a recording contract with SoundMex Records, distributed by Universal.  Songs such as El Pajara Loco, El Alacran, and fan-favorite, The Devil Went Down to Texas, have brought recognition to Escorpion, and has given them the opportunity to travel throughout the states of California, Florida, and Texas, as well as parts of Mexico.  
 
With God's blessings, Escorpion will return to the studios for another great ride.  We hope our music elevates everyone in the Mexican genre to another level.  Thanks to all our fans for your support.  We love you and couldn't do it without you.

Previously known as:

Neptune

   Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest (by diameter). Neptune is smaller in diameter but larger in mass than Uranus.

        orbit:    4,504,000,000 km (30.06 AU) from Sun
        diameter: 49,532 km (equatorial)
        mass:     1.0247e26 kg

   After the discovery of Uranus, it was noticed that its orbit was not as it should be in accordance with Newton's laws. It was therefore predicted that another more distant planet must be perturbing Uranus' orbit. Neptune was first observed by Galle and d'Arrest on 1846 Sept 23 very near to the locations independently predicted by Adams and Le Verrier from calculations based on the observed positions of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. An international dispute arose between the English and French (though not, apparently between Adams and Le Verrier personally) over priority and the right to name the new planet; they are now jointly credited with Neptune's discovery. Subsequent observations have shown that the orbits calculated by Adams and Le Verrier diverge from Neptune's actual orbit fairly quickly. Had the search for the planet taken place a few years earlier or later it would not have been found anywhere near the predicted location.

More than two centuries earlier, in 1613, Galileo observed Neptune when it happened to be very near Jupiter, but he thought it was just a star. On two successive nights he actually noticed that it moved slightly with respect to another nearby star. But on the subsequent nights it was out of his field of view. Had he seen it on the previous few nights Neptune's motion would have been obvious to him. But, alas, cloudy skies prevented obsevations on those few critical days.

   Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2 on Aug 25 1989. Much of we know about Neptune comes from this single encounter. But fortunately, recent ground-based and HST observations have added a great deal, too.

   Because Pluto's orbit is so eccentric, it sometimes crosses the orbit of Neptune making Neptune the most distant planet from the Sun for a few years.

   Neptune's composition is probably similar to Uranus': various "ices" and rock with about 15% hydrogen and a little helium. Like Uranus, but unlike Jupiter and Saturn, it may not have a distinct internal layering but rather to be more or less uniform in composition. But there is most likely a small core (about the mass of the Earth) of rocky material. Its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium with a small amount of methane.

   Neptune's blue color is largely the result of absorption of red light by methane in the atmosphere but there is some additional as-yet-unidentified chromophore which gives the clouds their rich blue tint.

   Like a typical gas planet, Neptune has rapid winds confined to bands of latitude and large storms or vortices. Neptune's winds are the fastest in the solar system, reaching 2000 km/hour.

   Like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an internal heat source -- it radiates more than twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.

   At the time of the Voyager encounter, Neptune's most prominent feature was the Great Dark Spot (left) in the southern hemisphere. It was about half the size as Jupiter's Great Red Spot (about the same diameter as Earth). Neptune's winds blew the Great Dark Spot westward at 300 meters/second (700 mph). Voyager 2 also saw a smaller dark spot in the southern hemisphere and a small irregular white cloud that zips around Neptune every 16 hours or so now known as "The Scooter" (right). It may be a plume rising from lower in the atmosphere but its true nature remains a mystery.

   However, HST observations of Neptune (left) in 1994 show that the Great Dark Spot has disappeared! It has either simply dissipated or is currently being masked by other aspects of the atmosphere. A few months later HST discovered a new dark spot in Neptune's northern hemisphere. This indicates that Neptune's atmosphere changes rapidly, perhaps due to slight changes in the temperature differences between the tops and bottoms of the clouds.

   Neptune also has rings. Earth-based observations showed only faint arcs instead of complete rings, but Voyager 2's images showed them to be complete rings with bright clumps. One of the rings appears to have a curious twisted structure (right).

   Like Uranus and Jupiter, Neptune's rings are very dark but their composition is unknown.

   Neptune's rings have been given names: the outermost is Adams (which contains three prominent arcs now named Liberty, Equality and Fraternity), next is an unnamed ring co-orbital with Galatea, then Leverrier (whose outer extensions are called Lassell and Arago), and finally the faint but broad Galle.

   Neptune's magnetic field is, like Uranus', oddly oriented and probably generated by motions of conductive material (probably water) in its middle layers.

   Neptune can be seen with binoculars (if you know exactly where to look) but a large telescope is needed to see anything other than a tiny disk. There are several Web sites that show the current position of Neptune (and the other planets) in the sky, but much more detailed charts will be required to actually find it. Such charts can be created with a planetarium program such as Starry Night.

Neptune's Satellites

           Distance  Radius    Mass
Satellite  (000 km)   (km)     (kg)   Discoverer   Date
---------  --------  ------  -------  ----------  -----
Naiad            48      29      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Thalassa         50      40      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Despina          53      74      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Galatea          62      79      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Larissa          74      96      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Proteus         118     209      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Triton          355    1350  2.14e22  Lassell      1846
Nereid         5509     170      ?    Kuiper       1949

Neptune's Rings

         Distance   Width
Ring       (km)      (km)     aka
-------  --------   -----   -------
Diffuse    41900       15   1989N3R, Galle
Inner      53200       15   1989N2R, LeVerrier
Plateau    53200     5800   1989N4R, Lassell, Arago
Main       62930     < 50   1989N1R, Adams

More about Neptune and its satellites

• more Neptune images

Open Issues

• Neptune's magnetic field is off center and at a large angle to its rotation axis. What processes in the interior generate this oddly shaped field?
• What accounts for the relative lack of hydrogen and helium in Neptune (and Uranus)?
• Why are Neptune's winds so strong in spite of the fact that it is so far from the Sun and has a relatively weak internal heat source?
• What happened to the Great Dark Spot?
• Can we design a useful Neptune orbiter mission cheap enough to be funded?