Editing Neptune (section)

== Observation ==
Neptune cannot be seen by just looking at the sky with the [[naked eye]]. To see it, a [[telescope]] or [[binoculars]] is needed.<ref name=":20" /> This is because Neptune has a normal brightness between [[Apparent magnitude|magnitudes]] +7.7 and +8.0.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal|last1=Mallama|first1=A.|last2=Hilton|first2=J.L.|year=2018|title=Computing Apparent Planetary Magnitudes for The Astronomical Almanac|journal=Astronomy and Computing|volume=25|pages=10–24|doi=10.1016/j.ascom.2018.08.002|arxiv=1808.01973|bibcode=2018A&C....25...10M|s2cid=69912809}}</ref> It can be outshined by [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]]'s [[Galilean moons]], the [[dwarf planet]] [[Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres]], and the [[asteroid]]s [[4 Vesta]], [[2 Pallas]], [[7 Iris]], [[3 Juno]] and [[6 Hebe]].<ref>See the respective articles for magnitude data.</ref> A telescope or strong binoculars show Neptune as a small blue dot that looks similar to Uranus. The blue color comes from the [[methane]] in its atmosphere.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Data Book of Astronomy | url=https://archive.org/details/databookastronom01moor |last1=Moore|first1=Patrick |year=2000 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/databookastronom01moor/page/n215 207]| publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=9780750306201 }}</ref> Its small size in the night sky has made it difficult to study visually. Most telescopic data was quite limited until the arrival of the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] and large ground-based telescopes with [[adaptive optics]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APOD: 2000 February 18 - Neptune through Adaptive Optics|url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000218.html|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=apod.nasa.gov}}</ref>

The average distance between Neptune and the Sun is about 4.5 billion km.<ref name=":13" /> Therefore, Neptune completes its orbit once every 164&nbsp;years. On July 12, 2011, Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery in 1846.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Gaherty|first1=Geoff|date=July 12, 2011|title=Neptune completes first orbit since its discovery in 1846| url=https://www.space.com/12249-neptune-completes-orbit-discovery-1846.html|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=Space.com|language=en}}</ref>

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