Neptune

Postcard courtesy of NASA/JPL.Narrative courtesy of Alessandro T. (age 10).

I decided to look for Saturn, Uranus or Neptune. I came across a blue dot and thought that it could be Neptune. Some clouds blocked my view before I could focus on it.

Waiting for the clouds to pass, I went inside and had a cup of warm Milo. Afterwards, the clouds had moved and I was able to focus on the blue object. It was also another star as it was very small, had no bands or other planet-identifying features. Planets have no light of their own. They reflect sunlight and don't twinkle like stars do.

I packed up my telescope and went in for the night. As the telescope was covered with dew, I left it in front of the fire to dry.

Caption: The Voyager 2 narrow angle camera was used to photograph Neptune almost continuously, recording approximately two and one-half rotations of the planet.

Alessandro T. is a 10 year old home schooled student in New Zealand.