Robert McNees
Depending on your time zone, Voyager 2's closest approach to Neptune was either yesterday (the 24th) or #OTD in 1989. It took place around 4am UTC.
Here's a short thread with some great images captured by the probe, and some proposed cargo for a future mission. #ReturnToNeptune
(Definitely read this one to the end.)
Robert McNees
Voyager 2 captured this image of Neptune's Great Dark Spot on its approach to the planet a few days earlier.
But when Hubble looked just five years later, the Earth-sized storm with 1300 mph winds was gone.
Image: NASA/JPL
Robert McNees
Images of Neptune’s moon Triton and its surface captured by Voyager 2 as it sailed past.
Of all the large objects in the solar system, Triton has the most circular orbit. The eccentricity is only about 0.00002.
Images: NASA / JPL
Robert McNees
A remarkable video of the Triton fly-by, made in 2014 with restored/processed Voyager 2 images.
Credit: P. Schenk, LPI / NASA / JPL
Robert McNees
Three days after its flyby, Voyager 2 looked back for this gorgeous image of a crescent Neptune and Triton. Triton, much smaller than Neptune, is in the foreground.
Image: NASA/JPL
Robert McNees
Voyager 2 continued to collect Neptune data for another month or so after sailing off. But this was the last stop on its Grand Tour. After that, it left the ecliptic and headed off towards interstellar space.
We haven't been back since.
However, if NASA *does* decide to send another probe, there's a little bit of cargo I'd like to add.
Robert McNees
When my daughter was 6yo, she figured out that thing where you sneakily stick a note on someone’s back.
But she didn’t know the notes should say things like “kick me.” Instead, she would put space facts on them. She was really into outer space at the time.
One time I felt something on my back, then heard her run off giggling. I reached around, peeled off the little post-it, and found this:
Robert McNees
Anyway, if NASA ever does decide to send another probe to Neptune, I hope they'll let me know. I saved the note, which I'd be happy to send to them, to place onboard.
Jo de Vivre
@mcnees this is the cutest thing ever.
iquanyin
@mcnees 🤣 and also awww
Robert McNees
@glasspusher Ah, I'm so sorry.
glasspshr
@mcnees It was so cool when Voyager went by Neptune. The only drag was my dad had died of cancer earlier in the month. First cool astronomy thing I couldn’t share with my dad.
RIP dad.
Sir David Nielsen
@mcnees @NancyWallaceGA she has already mastered the intersection of science and fart jokes, this 6-year-old is going far in life.
Matt
@mcnees if she’d picked Uranus instated she would’ve been onto something
yes, it's me, liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦
@mcnees omg you need to preserve that in an acid free mount and museum quality frame. that is the most adorable thing ever!
karenbynight
@mcnees didn’t know the note should say “kick me”, are you kidding? She put together space facts and a fart joke, at 6 years old. Legend!
Robert McNees
@DamonWakes in a sense, it really is the greatest possible fart joke
Damon L. Wakes
@mcnees To be fair, I think this really does work rather well as a conventional note-on-back joke.
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈
@mcnees I can just about remember being an excited child awaiting news of Neptune in 1989. That excitement about Space has never grown old though 😃
Chirp! is a social network. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.1-beta0, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All Chirp! content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.