Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Neptune's Great Dark Spot: Gone But Not Forgotten

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 8, 1996 is “Neptune's Great Dark Spot: Gone But Not Forgotten,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, and NASA. The original explanation runs about 157 words.

Neptune's Great Dark Spot: Gone But Not Forgotten
Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, and NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“When NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by distant Neptune in August of 1989, astronomers were shocked . Since Neptune receives only 3 percent the sunlight Jupiter does, they expected to find a dormant, dark, frigid planet.”

— APOD editors, May 8, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 8, 1996
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, and NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 157 words

All of May 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Jupiter

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 8 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.