Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the sun, and it is the fourth-largest planet in the solar system. It has a diameter of 49,244 kilometers and a mass of 1.02 x 10^26 kilograms, making it about 17 times more massive than Earth. Neptune is an ice giant planet, primarily composed of water, methane, and ammonia, and has a deep, turbulent atmosphere with strong winds and large storms, including the famous Great Dark Spot and the smaller Dark Spot. The planet has a day length of approximately 16.1 Earth hours and an orbital period of 165 Earth years. Neptune has 14 known moons, with the largest being Triton, a captured Kuiper Belt object with a highly inclined and retrograde orbit. Neptune also has a faint and dynamic ring system, which was discovered in 1984 during a stellar occultation. The planet has been explored by only one spacecraft, NASA's Voyager 2, which flew by the planet in 1989, providing the most detailed images and data of the planet and its moons to date.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of Neptune in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Neptune
Neptune is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Neptune in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Neptune against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Neptune from Oslob, Philippines (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Manila):
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Neptune from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of Neptune from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Neptune from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of Neptune to Earth will happen on Thursday 8 November 2373 at a distance of 28.806366 Astronomical Units, or 4,309,370,997 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of Neptune, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of Neptune.
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 49244 km | 3.8647 |
| Mass | 102.41 x 1024 kg | 17.1478 |
| Density | 1.638 gr/cm3 | 0.2971 |
| Escape Velocity | 23.56 km/s | 2.1055 |
| Sideral Rotation | 16.1100 hours | 0.6731 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -6.87 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.41 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Neptune computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 05 2025 | 00h 10m 04s | -00° 21’ 11” | 7.76 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 06 2025 | 00h 10m 04s | -00° 21’ 15” | 7.75 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 07 2025 | 00h 10m 04s | -00° 21’ 19” | 7.75 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 08 2025 | 00h 10m 04s | -00° 21’ 24” | 7.74 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 09 2025 | 00h 10m 04s | -00° 21’ 30” | 7.74 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 10 2025 | 00h 10m 03s | -00° 21’ 36” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 11 2025 | 00h 10m 02s | -00° 21’ 44” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 12 2025 | 00h 10m 02s | -00° 21’ 52” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 13 2025 | 00h 10m 01s | -00° 22’ 00” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 14 2025 | 00h 10m 00s | -00° 22’ 10” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 15 2025 | 00h 09m 59s | -00° 22’ 20” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 16 2025 | 00h 09m 58s | -00° 22’ 31” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 17 2025 | 00h 09m 56s | -00° 22’ 43” | 7.73 | 2.3” | Pisces |
| Jul 18 2025 | 00h 09m 55s | -00° 22’ 56” | 7.72 | 2.3” | Pisces |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Neptune: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Neptune?: Key information on where to find Neptune in the sky.
- Distance of Neptune from Earth: Find out how far Neptune is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is Neptune?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of Neptune from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Neptune's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Neptune's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Neptune's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of Neptune.