Knowra Rings of Neptune Rings of Neptune The Rings of Neptune are a faint system of narrow rings made mainly of dust and dark material. Several contain dense arcs that occupy only limited stretches of their orbits.
Neptune : Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun, an ice giant with a system of moons and rings. Its gravity governs the orbits and structure of every ring in the system.
Adams ring : The Adams ring is Neptune’s outermost main ring, notable for its bright arcs. Its arcs show the system’s sharpest departures from a uniform ring.
Voyager 2 : Voyager 2 is a NASA spacecraft that conducted a flyby of Neptune in 1989. Its images revealed Neptune’s rings and their bright arcs at close range.
Le Verrier ring : The Le Verrier ring is a narrow inner ring of Neptune located inside the Adams ring. It is one of the planet’s narrow, relatively prominent rings.
Rings of Saturn : The Rings of Saturn are a broad, bright system of icy rings surrounding Saturn. Their bright, extensive bands contrast with Neptune’s faint, dust-rich rings.
Planetary ring : A planetary ring is a disk or collection of particles orbiting a planet. Neptune’s rings are a faint, dusty example of this broader structure.
Ring arc : A ring arc is a concentrated segment of material occupying only part of a ring’s circumference. Neptune’s Adams ring contains arcs rather than a smoothly distributed band.
Neptune flyby : The 1989 Neptune flyby was Voyager 2’s close encounter with the planet and its moons. The encounter supplied the first detailed observations of the ring system.
Galle ring : The Galle ring is a broad, faint ring interior to Neptune’s Le Verrier ring. Its diffuse appearance contrasts with the narrow, brighter rings farther out.
Rings of Uranus : The Rings of Uranus are a narrow, dark system of rings orbiting Uranus. They share Neptune’s dark, narrow character but lack its prominent arcs.
Show all 26