Fact Sheet
The Other Blue Planet
Neptune shines like a brilliant blue marble in this 1989 image from Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to visit it. Neptune is the fourth-largest planet in the solar system. Methane in its upper atmosphere absorbs red wavelengths of light, which is why the planet looks blue. The large dark spot near the center of the disk is a giant storm that has since disappeared. Neptune is shining at its brightest for the year. It's visible through binoculars in the constellation Capricornus. [Credit: NASA/JPL]
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