The eighth planet of the Solar System, and the fourth largest. Although its mean distance is 4.5 billion kilometers away from the Sun, it is at times farther from the Sun than Plato due to the latter’s eccentric orbit. Neptune has rings like Saturn. Its largest moon, Triton, revolves around Neptune in the opposite direction of the planet’s rotation. Furthermore, its orbit tilts 157o to its equator, compared to less than 5o for other major satellites in the solar system. Helena P. Blavatsky wrote that Neptune does not really belong to our Solar System.

Neptune is the Roman god of the sea, equivalent to Poseidon among the Greeks. It is equivalent to the Hindu Iaspati, “master of the waters.” In astrological symbolism, Neptune represents the mystical and the subconscious. In astrology it is the ruler of the zodiac sign Pisces.

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