Neptune
['nɛptjun]
Definition
(noun.) a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from the sun is the most remote of the gas giants; 'the existence of Neptune was predicted from perturbations in the orbit of Uranus and it was then identified in 1846'.
(noun.) (Roman mythology) god of the sea; counterpart of Greek Poseidon.
Typist: Millie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The son of Saturn and Ops, the god of the waters, especially of the sea. He is represented as bearing a trident for a scepter.
(n.) The remotest known planet of our system, discovered -- as a result of the computations of Leverrier, of Paris -- by Galle, of Berlin, September 23, 1846. Its mean distance from the sun is about 2,775,000,000 miles, and its period of revolution is about 164,78 years.
Checked by Dora
Definition
n. (Rom. myth.) the god of the sea identified with the Greek Poseidon represented with a trident in his hand: (astron.) the outermost planet of the solar system discovered in 1846.—adj. Neptū′nian pertaining to the sea: (geol.) formed by water: applied to stratified rocks or to those due mainly to the agency of water as opposed to Plutonic or Igneous.—n. Nep′tūnist one who holds the Neptunian theory in geology—also adj.
Edited by Alexander
Examples
- His labors, however, were interrupt ed by the death of his assistant Flemming, and by his own illness, which proved fatal in 1846, a few months before the actual discovery of Neptune. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- When Lalande's records in Paris were studied, it was found that he had made two observations of Neptune on May 8 and 10. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- They were changes an immortal astronomer in Neptune, watching the earth from age to age, would have found almost imperceptible. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- No matter how staunch, sound and grand in dimensions man may build his ships, old Neptune can still toss them. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Can it be Neptune? Jane Austen. Emma.
- Arago named the new planet after the French discoverer, but soon acquiesced in the name Neptune, which has since prevailed. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- In the succeeding year he built other boats, the _Rariton_, to run from New York to New Brunswick, and _The Car of Neptune_ as a second Hudson River boat. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- In Feb ruar y of that year he had found (as had Petersen of Altona about the same time) that Lalande had in May, 1795, observed Neptune and mistaken it for a fixed star. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Neptune's orbit is more nearly circular than that of any of the major planets except Venus. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Walker, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, was able to determine the elements of the orbit of Neptune accurately in 1847. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
Editor: Meredith