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All eight planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in the direction of the Sun's rotation, which is counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole. Six of the planets also rotate about their axis in this same direction. The exceptions – the planets with retrograde rotation – are Venus and Uranus.
The term retrograde is from the Latin word retrogradus – "backward-step", the affix retro-meaning "backwards" and gradus "step". Retrograde is most commonly an adjective used to describe the path of a planet as it travels through the night sky, with respect to the zodiac, stars, and other bodies of the celestial canopy. In this context, the ...
Neptune brightened about 10% between 1980 and 2000 mostly due to the changing of the seasons. [177] Neptune may continue to brighten as it approaches perihelion in 2042. The apparent magnitude currently ranges from 7.67 to 7.89 with a mean of 7.78 and a standard deviation of 0.06. [18] Prior to 1980, the planet was as faint as magnitude 8.0. [18]
The northern lights are expected to be strongest between Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1. The best time to view them is from 10:00 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.
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It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be rounded under its own gravity and hosts a thin, hazy atmosphere. Triton orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit—revolving in the opposite direction to the parent planet's rotation—the only large moon in the Solar System to do so.
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. This point is distinct from Earth's north magnetic pole. The South Pole is the other point where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface, in Antarctica.
S/2021 N 1 is the smallest, faintest, and most distant natural satellite of Neptune known, with a diameter of around 16–25 km (10–16 mi). It was discovered on 7 September 2021 by Scott S. Sheppard, David J. Tholen, Chad Trujillo, and Patryk S. Lykawka using the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and later announced on 23 February 2024. [1]