Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Happy birthday, Neptune! It is now one full Neptunian year since this giant planet was discovered in 1846!

Today is special: it is now one full Neptunian year since this giant planet was discovered in 1846!

So today is Neptune’s birthday! Um. Well, kinda.

Yeah, as usual, stuff like this gets complicated. I realized this anniversary was coming up about a year ago, and contacted an old friend about it: Kelly Beatty, editor at Sky and Telescope magazine, who then contacted astronomers John Westfall and Roger Sinnott. We had some fun email exchanges about all this! I think I have a good grip on this now, so let me explain:

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