Neptune: The Farthest Giant

Extra! Extra! Distant giant tells all! In this volume, Isaac Asimov shares the latest findings from the 1989 Voyager 2 rendezvous with Neptune. During its encounter, Voyager revealed much that had previously remained a mystery, including updated information about Neptune’s largest satellite, Triton, and exciting news of Neptune’s previously undetected satellites, its lumpy rings, and its Great Dark Spot.

Like the slightly later How Did We Find Out About Neptune? this is a good introduction for young readers to the last of the known gas giants, covering its discovery and what is known about it and its moons. This book tends to be a bit heavier on the statistics and is more colorfully and completely illustrated, and is aimed at a slightly younger audience. Teenagers and adults would probably find Saturn and Beyond to be of more interest, even though it was written before Voyager 2 passed near the planet—this, and the book’s “Fact File” are why I rate it slightly higher for the general Asimov fan.