Planets
Neptune
(Contd. from page 3...)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 (km) (km) aka ------- -------- ----- ------- Diffuse 41900 15 1989N3R, Galle Inner 53200 15 1989N2R, LeVerrier Plateau 53200 5800 1989N4R, Lassell, Arago Main 62930 < 50 1989N1R, Adams (distance is from Neptune's center to the ring's inner edge)