Little is known about Neptune and the legendary love of Galatea

Neptune's English name (Neptune) and Galatea's moon are inspired by myths that have attracted many people.

Neptune the sea gods and the ocean

In ancient times, our ancestors did not know Hai Neptune-Neptune. It was not until 1846 that scientists discovered the planet.

The new green gas clouds of the new planet have made astronomers first find it impressive about the vast seas and oceans. Thus, they gave it Neptune's name, the Roman god who governed the sea, continued the tradition of naming the planet after the names of gods in ancient Greek and Roman myths.

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A picture of him capturing NASA's giant blue sea planet.

In Roman mythology, Neptune is the god of the sea and water, one of the sons of Chronos, the brothers of Jupiter (Jupiter) and Pluto.

(Pluto was once one of the 9 planets of the solar system but is now considered a dwarf planet, according to the latest classification of the IAU International Astronomical Union since 2008.)

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Picture: "Neptune Calming the Tempest-the sea god both dispels the most terrible storms" by Dutch painter Peter Paul Rubens (1635), one of the European painters with the most welcomed works in 17th century.

The first spacecraft to fly to Neptune was Voyager 2, launched in 1977 on a mission to four major planets: Moc Tinh, Saturn, Hai Vuong and Thien Vuong Tinh. This is also the longest continuous operating space ship. Voyager 2 has now completed the task of approaching four large planets, 16 billion kilometers from Earth and continuing to target Sirius, the brightest star in our sky.

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Voyager 2 shot in a cross-star mission (NASA's Voyager Interstellar Mission).

Touching love story of Galatea

The non-capitalized moon is the astronomical term for a natural satellite revolving around planets, not the earth's moon. Not only the planet but every planet has a moon.

One of the myths associated with Neptune's moons is the tragic love of Galatea and Acis. This story inspired countless works of art, including the 'Acis and Galatea' serenade of the great composer Frideric Händel.

According to Greek mythology, Galatea living in the waters surrounding Sicily Island has a famous one-eyed giant (Cyclopes) known as Polyphemus. Galatea loves Acis-the shepherd son of Pan, the Greek farm god who protects goats, sheep and shepherds.

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A picture of Galatea goddess Raphael of the 16th century European Renaissance at Villa Farnesina in Rome, Italy (Photo: 1995 Fototeca Storica Nazionale)

Polyphemus is also in love with Galatea. Once Polyphemus caught Galatea and Acis sleeping on a hill covered with grass. Unable to control himself with jealousy of the Acis shepherd, Polyphemus killed the little boy with a giant boulder.

When Galatea woke up, Acis' blood was dripping on the ground. She turned it into a river called Acis.

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Statue of Galatea-Acis at La fontaine Médicis fountain in Luxemburg, Paris flower garden.Behind the white statue of lovers is the black statue of Polyphemus, while the stream in front represents Acis's blood (Photo: Solli's Lifestyle)

The name of the sea goddess Galatea, the servant of Poseidon, the great sea emperor in Greek mythology was given to a moon of Neptune.

Interesting 'specifications' about Neptune and the moon Galatea

  1. In the solar system, Neptune is the planet most far from the sun, 30.05 au (astronomical unit by the distance from the earth to the sun).
  2. Orbital cycle (self-turning time) for 164.79 years.
  3. Diameter: nearly 4 times the earth (3,883), the fourth largest in the solar system, behind Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.
  4. Volume: 17 times the earth (ranked 3rd after Jupiter and Saturn)
  5. Density: 1.64 (water = 1)

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NASA image: Galatea is one of the Neptune's 14 satellites and is one of 7 inner ring satellites with a diameter of 158km.