Blue Neptune: At The Edge Of The Solar System

Ian, Judy and Graeme Admire Our Most Distant Neighbour

Travelling from Hazelwood in Gippsland, our “astro tourists”  journeyed into the furthest reaches of our Solar System. There, silently awaiting their gaze, was Neptune in its unmistakable blue hue. At 4.4 billion kms from Earth, it’s no surprise it is a small disc in the view, but it is nonetheless still a gas giant of our System being roughly half Jupiter’s diameter. (Jupiter has a diameter twelve times that of planet Earth) To see Neptune is a rare sight that few have the opportunity to see…

It feels very satisfying to contemplate what it is that you are actually seeing in real time with your own eyes when looking at Neptune. On the one hand, it is something incredibly far away … But on our astronomy tour, beyond Neptune and the next closest object we will see through the telescope is 37,000 times more distant. And that’s the nearest 🙂 … Neptune is not that far away at all!!

Our tour included closer giants Jupiter and Saturn with their superb features seen in detail … and other distant objects. Ian, Judy and Graeme’s tour was a gift from one of our previous Tour guests – a family member. A personalized memento/souvenir given to all Honeysuckles Astronomy Tour guests will enable fond recollections of a memorable night under the stars. A much treasured gift, we’re sure.

“We were amazed to see planets and galaxies so far away over mind bending distances in our solar system and beyond. Bruce is very knowledgeable and extremely interesting in his commentary about planet sizes, orbits and rotations. A very enjoyable evening.”    From Graeme, Judy and Ian