GC4E1Q3 SSTS Series - Neptune (Drury,Auckland) (Multi-cache) in North Island, New Zealand created by stretch.kerr

This cache has been archived.

Ribeana:
With so much new development in the area, the cache is no longer sustainable. Many others in the series have had to be archived too sadly.

I will be placing a new cache semi in the area, so watch out for that!

GC4E1Q3 ▼

A cache by stretch.kerr Message this owner

Hidden : 12/21/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

SOLAR SYSTEM TO SCALE SERIES
This simple offset multi is cache #7 in a series of 9 (including a bonus), arranged to represent a 1 : 124,979,000 scale model of our solar system, centered around the bonus cache, The Sun, at the Auckland Skytower.

Each cache is on a significant vantage point from which to view the others and get an appreciation for the sheer scale of the solar system.

In each case, you are looking for a 250ml screw-top container, containing the log book and a clue to the bonus.

This cache is an simple offset multi. To calculate the final coordinates, use the numerical values of the letters on the gate at the published coords.
FINAL: S37° 0(5th letter).((3rd letter*10th)-8th) E174° 59.((1st letter*4th)+11th)

This Google Maps overlay shows the relative orbits of the planets at this scale. Click on the image for a larger view and to open up a new browser tab with the interactive Google Map in it.

NEPTUNE
Neptune

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass. Among the gaseous planets in the solar system, Neptune is the most dense. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times the mass of Earth but not as dense. On average, Neptune orbits the Sun at a distance of 30.1 AU, approximately 30 times the Earth–Sun distance.

Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitational perturbation by an unknown planet. Neptune was subsequently observed on 23 September 1846 by Johann Galle within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier, and its largest moon, Triton, was discovered shortly thereafter, though none of the planet's remaining 13 moons were located telescopically until the 20th century. Neptune has been visited by one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew by the planet on 25 August 1989.

Neptune is similar in composition to Uranus, and both have compositions which differ from those of the larger gas giants, Jupiter, and Saturn. Neptune's atmosphere, while similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in that it is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, contains a higher proportion of "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane. Astronomers sometimes categorise Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" in order to emphasise these distinctions. The interior of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is primarily composed of ices and rock. It is possible that the core has a solid surface, but the temperature would be thousands of degrees and the atmospheric pressure crushing. Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet's blue appearance.

In contrast to the hazy, relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus, Neptune's atmosphere is notable for its active and visible weather patterns. For example, at the time of the 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, the planet's southern hemisphere possessed a Great Dark Spot comparable to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. These weather patterns are driven by the strongest sustained winds of any planet in the Solar System, with recorded wind speeds as high as 2,100 km/h. Because of its great distance from the Sun, Neptune's outer atmosphere is one of the coldest places in the Solar System, with temperatures at its cloud tops approaching 55 K (−218 °C). Temperatures at the planet's centre are approximately 5,400 K (5,000 °C). Neptune has a faint and fragmented ring system (labeled 'arcs'), which may have been detected during the 1960s but was only indisputably confirmed in 1989 by Voyager 2.

From its discovery in 1846 until the subsequent discovery of Pluto in 1930, Neptune was the farthest known planet. Upon Pluto's discovery Neptune became the penultimate planet, save for a 20-year period between 1979 and 1999 when Pluto's elliptical orbit brought it closer to the sun than Neptune. The discovery of the Kuiper belt in 1992 led many astronomers to debate whether Pluto should be considered a planet in its own right or part of the belt's larger structure. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union defined the word "planet" for the first time, reclassifying Pluto as a "dwarf planet" and making Neptune once again the last planet in the Solar System.

Neptune's orbit has a profound impact on the region directly beyond it, known as the Kuiper belt. The Kuiper belt is a ring of small icy worlds, similar to the asteroid belt but far larger, extending from Neptune's orbit at 30 AU out to about 55 AU from the Sun. Much in the same way that Jupiter's gravity dominates the asteroid belt, shaping its structure, so Neptune's gravity dominates the Kuiper belt. Over the age of the Solar System, certain regions of the Kuiper belt became destabilised by Neptune's gravity, creating gaps in the Kuiper belt's structure. The region between 40 and 42 AU is an example.

There do exist orbits within these empty regions where objects can survive for the age of the Solar System. These resonances occur when Neptune's orbital period is a precise fraction of that of the object, such as 1:2, or 3:4. If, say, an object orbits the Sun once for every two Neptune orbits, it will only complete half an orbit by the time Neptune returns to its original position. The most heavily populated resonance in the Kuiper belt, with over 200 known objects, is the 2:3 resonance. Objects in this resonance complete 2 orbits for every 3 of Neptune, and are known as plutinos because the largest of the known Kuiper belt objects, Pluto, is among them. Although Pluto crosses Neptune's orbit regularly, the 2:3 resonance ensures they can never collide.

The other caches in this series are: