THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
It has been estimated that as Neptune is so far away from the sun, it receives only 1⁄900th as much light and heat as our earth.
"When the keen north wind with all its fury blows,
Congeals the floods, and forms the fleecy snows,
'Tis heat intense to what can there be known;
Warmer our poles than is its burning zone.
Who there inhabit must have other powers,
Juices, and veins, and sense, and life, than ours.
One moment's cold, like theirs, would pierce the bone,
Freeze the heart's blood, and turn us all to stone."
—Baker's Universe.
Congeals the floods, and forms the fleecy snows,
'Tis heat intense to what can there be known;
Warmer our poles than is its burning zone.
Who there inhabit must have other powers,
Juices, and veins, and sense, and life, than ours.
One moment's cold, like theirs, would pierce the bone,
Freeze the heart's blood, and turn us all to stone."
—Baker's Universe.
The sun, as viewed from Neptune, would look very small, not much larger than Venus does to us when she is nearest the earth, although he gives to Neptune 250,000 times more light than Venus gives to us at her best.
Neptune possesses only one known satellite. This satellite has the peculiarity of whirling much as if it had been tipped over through an angle of 150 degrees, which causes it to move in a direction opposite to that in which the planets travel around the sun.
[284]
