NEPTUNE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from the sun is the most remote of the gas giants

Example:

the existence of Neptune was predicted from perturbations in the orbit of Uranus and it was then identified in 1846

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

gas giant; Jovian planet (any of the four outermost planets in the solar system; much larger than Earth and gaseous in nature (like Jupiter))

outer planet ((astronomy) a major planet whose orbit is outside the asteroid belt (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto))

superior planet (any of the planets whose orbit lies outside the earth's orbit)

Holonyms ("Neptune" is a member of...):

solar system (the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Roman mythology) god of the sea; counterpart of Greek Poseidon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Roman deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Romans)

Domain category:

Roman mythology (the mythology of the ancient Romans)

Credits

Context examples:

Liquid water would only be possible if the planet turns out to be terrestrial in nature, rather than resembling a small version of Neptune.

(Hubble Finds Water Vapor on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet for 1st Time, NASA)

Located beyond Neptune's orbit, the belt comprises icy objects and rocks—among them four dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.

(Brazil astronomers discover ring around dwarf planet near Pluto, Agência Brasil)

Using planetary evolution models, the team was able to show that Kepler-51 b, the planet closest to the star, will one day (in a billion years) look like a smaller and hotter version of Neptune, a type of planet that is fairly common throughout the Milky Way.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

The two datasets shed light on atmospheric processes of not just Jupiter but also fellow gas giants Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as well as those of giant exoplanets now being discovered; they even shed light on atmospheric processes of Earth's cyclones.

(NASA's Juno Navigators Enable Jupiter Cyclone Discovery, NASA)

Come, come, my dear lady, said he, you speak vastly beyond my merits; upon which encouragement she started again in a theatrical apostrophe to Britain’s darling and Neptune’s eldest son, which he endured with the same signs of gratitude and pleasure.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In particular, these models suggest that the Kuiper Belt — a cold region beyond the orbit of Neptune — should contain a small fraction of rocky bodies from the inner Solar System, such as carbon-rich asteroids, referred to as carbonaceous asteroids.

(Exiled Asteroid Discovered in Outer Reaches of Solar System, ESO)

These clouds are similar to clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features when air is pushed over mountains on Earth (though Neptune has no solid surface).

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

You have lots of time—nearly a year—to make use of the proximity of Jupiter and Neptune in a sextile, offering great opportunity.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Neptune's dark vortices are high-pressure systems and are usually accompanied by bright "companion clouds," which are also now visible on the distant planet.

(Hubble Imagery Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune, NASA)

The new world, known as K2-288Bb, could be rocky or could be a gas-rich planet similar to Neptune.