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WHAT TO SEE
Neptune is one of the four 'gas giants' (along with Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus). They are planets composed almost entirely of gas.
Mystery colour
Neptune's vivid blue colour is a mystery. No one knows the identity of the light-absorbing chemical that creates its deep blue skies.
'Scooters'
While flying past Neptune, Voyager 2 spotted a small white cloud shooting around the planet's upper atmosphere every 16 hours.
It was dubbed ‘The Scooter' because of its strange shape. It may have been a plume rising from a larger cloud lower in the atmosphere. But what is was is still a mystery.
SPOTTING NEPTUNE FROM THE EARTH
Neptune cannot be seen from the Earth with the naked eye. Even through powerful telescopes, the planet can be hard to spot.
When Galileo saw it, he thought it was just another star.
 Visit BBC History to read more about Galileo
LOCAL HISTORY
Neptune was named after the Roman god of the sea.
Neptune has the honour of being the first planet to be discovered on paper before it was actually seen.
Neptune's gravitational field affects the orbit of Uranus. So its existence was deduced using Newton's laws of motion. Then it was spotted by Johann Gottfried Galle in September 1846.
Find out more about Isaac Newton from BBC History
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TRAVEL INFORMATION
Journey time · 12 Earth years
1 Neptunian year · 164.9 Earth years
Contacting home · Time lag = 8.26 hours
Before you leave
Make sure you check the weather forecast before you set off for Neptune. In 1989, astronomers spotted a giant dark storm in the planet's atmosphere similar to the giant red spot on Jupiter.
However, observations in 1994 failed to locate it. Either the spot was concealed beneath the clouds, or it had simply died.
When you arrive
Neptune has no solid surface to land on, although it may have a tiny core of rock. Its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium with traces of methane.
Neptune has the wildest weather of any planet in the Solar System, with winds of up to 2,000km per hour.
Descending towards the planet, you get a fantastic view of the planet's ring system. As with other planets, the rings of Neptune are separated into different bands. Their layout is determined by the gravitational fields of the planet and its moons.
Explore Saturn's famous ring system
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