Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

was discovered in 1846 and has only made occasional appearances in fiction since then. The first time it was mentioned, then called "

Leverrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier FRS (FOR) H FRSE (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune usin ...

's planet", was in the 1848 novel '' The Triumphs of Woman'' by

Charles Rowcroft Charles Rowcroft (1798, London – 1856), pastoralist and novelist, the son of Thomas Edward Rowcroft, a British consul in Peru. Rowcroft was educated at Eton, after which he went to Hobart Town, Australia, in 1821 and took up a grant of 2,000 a ...

where an inhabitant of the planet visits Earth. The earliest stories where Neptune itself directly appears as a

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

, such as the 1930s works " The Monsters of Neptune" by Henrik Dahl Juve and ''

Last and First Men ''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from t ...

'' by

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) – known as Olaf Stapledon – was a British philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures ...

, portray it as a

rocky planet A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate Rock (geology), rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the S ...

rather than as having its actual gaseous composition; in the latter, it becomes humanity's refuge in the

far future While the future cannot be predicted with certainty, present understanding in various scientific fields allows for the prediction of some far-future events, if only in the broadest outline. These fields include astrophysics, which studies how ...

when the Sun expands. Later works rectified this error, with

Alexei Panshin Alexei Panshin (August 14, 1940 – August 21, 2022) was an American writer and science fiction critic. He wrote several critical works and several novels, including the 1968 Nebula Award–winning novel ''Rite of Passage''Nicholls 1979, p. 447 ...

's 1969 short story " One Sunday in Neptune" depicting a voyage into Neptune's atmosphere and Alex Irvine's 2003 story " Shepherded by Galatea" featuring

resource extraction Extractivism is the process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market. It exists in an economy that depends primarily on the extraction or removal of natural resources that are considered valuable for exportation w ...

in the atmosphere. In the 1969 novel '' Macroscope'' by

Piers Anthony Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his :Xanth books, long-running novel series set in ...

, Neptune is converted to a

world ship A generation ship, or generation starship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub-light speed. Since such a ship might require hundreds to thousands of years to reach nearby stars, the original occupants of a gen ...

. Neptune's largest moon

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

was discovered less than a month after the planet. A few works in the 1930s depicted humans going to Triton, looking for minerals in

Roman Frederick Starzl Roman Frederick Starzl (1899–1976) was an American writer. He, and earlier, his father (John V. Starzl), owned the ''Le Mars Globe-Post'' newspaper of Le Mars, Iowa. Roman Frederick was also the father of physician Thomas E. Starzl."The Lo ...

's "

The Power Satellite ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" and a permanent home in

John R. Pierce John Robinson Pierce (March 27, 1910 – April 2, 2002), was an American engineer and author. He did extensive work concerning radio communication, microwave technology, computer music, psychoacoustics, and science fiction. Additionally to his ...

's "

The Relics from the Earth ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

". In the late 20th century it started receiving more attention from science fiction writers than Neptune itself. The main such work is

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...

's 1976 novel ''

'' (also known as ''Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia'') which depicts future societies living there. In the 1994 novel ''

Neptune Crossing Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

'' by

Jeffrey Carver Jeffrey A. Carver (born 1949) is an American science fiction author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, graduated from Brown University, and lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts with his family. His 2000 novel ''Eternity's End'' was a n ...

, an alien on Triton helps humanity avert an

impact event An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have physical consequences and have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or me ...

References

{{Neptune Fiction about ice giants