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How far is Neptune from the Sun?
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Neptune
A photograph of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere, taken by Voyager 2 in August 1989. The view is from below the planet's equator, and north is up. The Great Dark Spot (center left) is 13,000 km (8,100 miles)āabout the diameter of Earthāin its longer dimension. Accompanying it are bright, wispy clouds thought to comprise methane ice crystals. At higher southern latitudes lies a smaller, eye-shaped dark spot with a light core (bottom left). Just above that spot is a bright cloud dubbed Scooter. Each of these cloud features was seen to travel eastward but at a different rate, the Great Dark Spot moving the slowest.
Neptune's mean distance from the Sun is approximately 4,498,396,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to 30.1 astronomical units (AU). Other estimates place this mean distance at 4,498,250,000 kilometers (2,795,083,000 miles). Because Neptune has an orbit that is nearly circular, its distance from the Sun varies very little throughout its 164.79-year orbital period.12