Voyager 2 and Neptune's Rings

A lot of amazing science was done in my lifetime. Most people are not paying attention. Voyager 2 confirms Neptune’s rings on this date in 1989

We've known Saturn has rings since 1610, when Galileo first turned his telescope on the sky. The rings of Uranus were discovered in 1977, and the rings of Jupiter in 1979. Neptune's rings were not discovered until 1989 when Voyager 2 visited the planet on its Grand Tour.

Watching from Earth in 1984, astronomers recorded extra blinks before and after Neptune passed in front of a distant star. Thus, astronomers believed Neptune has at least a partial ring system. But it was NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft that provided the first photographic proof of the existence of Neptune’s rings on August 22, 1989.

The image above is from NASA, courtesy of WikiMedia Commons. It is from the 26th of that year, because it is a better photo than the one from 22nd.

This pair of Voyager 2 images (FDS 11446.21 and 11448.10), two 591-s exposures obtained through the clear filter of the wide angle camera, show the full ring system with the highest sensitivity. Visible in this figure are the bright, narrow N53 and N63 rings, the diffuse N42 ring, and (faintly) the plateau outside of the N53 ring (with its slight brightening near 57,500 km). The original NASA image has been cropped.

Date: 26 August 1989

Click the image for a better view, and more information.

The Voyager Program was a technological marvel. Still is actually, since the last time I checked both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are sending some data. The nuclear fuel that powers both craft is due to be depleted soon. Both craft were launched in 1977, and they sent back some stunning photographs. That technology from the late 70s is still working is amazing, given how little tech from the 1990s is still working.