A Planet Predicted By Mathmatics (Neptune)

In 1781 british astronomer Sir Willian Herschel noticed somthing strange about the orbit of Uranus. somthing was amiss. Uranus did not follow the laws of physics as he understood them at the time.its movements acted as if somthing was disturbing it. Later in 1841 the french astronomer Alexis Bouvard also thought somthing was wrong with the orbit of Uranus. it is being tugged at by an unknown source. there had to be somthing out there that we dont know.

During the 1840s astronomers John Adams and Urbain La Verrier independently Decided to calculate using mathmatics and physics where the mystery planet should be in the future to be seen. and that would explain the strange behaviour of our 7th planet Uranus.

September 23rd 1846 acting upon Adams and La verriers Pedictions German astronomer Johann Galle made the very first direct observation of the blue planet At the Berlin observatory. It was there just like Adams and La Verrier predicted. It was dramatic and a sensation in the astronomical world because Johann Galle not only discoverd Neptune he also comfirmed the "Newtonian gravitational theory." It has been said that Adams and LaVerrier discovered a planet "with the point of a pen"

Because of its distance from the sun 4.5 Billion Kilometers, 30 AU, astronomical units , (30 times the sun earth distance) it takes Neptune 165 yrs to make one orbit.and will not be back in this postion until the year 2176

July 12 2011 Neptune arrived back to the spot " heliocentric longitude" (relative to its orbit to the sun) were it was when it was discovered 165 yrs ago. and the planet still remains one of the biggest mysteries of the solar system,

In1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew approx 3000 miles above the northpole of neptune returning many images of the planet before heading off for interstellar space.

In 2014 the "New Horizons" spacecraft will arrive for its visit of neptune 25 yrs after Voyager. So it is said that July 12th 2011 is the birthday of the discovery of neptune.

Wesley J Hunt

(as printed in the July 2011 edition of Dolphin Talk)