Nobody told me, but last night, the planet Neptune was in perfect opposition, a straight line could be drawn from it right through the Sun and Earth. It was also at its closest to Earth, and was bright in the sky around midnight – although not in the well of atmospheric murk that is midsummer Los Angeles. Neptune is also nearing the end of its first orbit since its discovery. It has taken over 160 years for Neptune to orbit the sun just once, and the planet was actually discovered on the last occasion it came this close to Earth, back in 1846. (The opposition happened on August 20 of that year as well, but the planet wasn't discovered until a month later.) But don’t get too excited. Neptune's first full orbit since its discovery won't be completed until 2011.
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