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The Rings of Neptune
Neptune has a set of four narrow rings comprised of dust particles from the collisions between the planet's moons and small meteorites. The rings are very faint and from Earth based telescopes, they seem only to be arcs. However, when Voyager 2 flew by Neptune, it discovered that the arcs are complete rings but with bright spots or clumps.
The rings have been given names; some named after the discoverers of Neptune themselves. The outermost ring is called Adams, which happens to be comprised of three distinct arcs called Liberty, Equality and Fraternity). The next ring is still unnamed, but is in co-orbit with Galatea. The next ring in is the Leverrier (named after one of the mathematicians who predicted the location of where Neptune could be spotted) and finally the faint and broad Galle.
Much of what we know about the rings today come from images sent back by Voyager 2, however, many characteristics of the rings still remain a mystery. For example, the cause of the bright clumps in the rings is still unknown. Some rings also seem to be twisted. The rings also are very dark, but the question is why?
Voyager 2 observed a peculiar sight on some rings of Neptune. Portions actually looked twisted! Scientists explain this phenomena to be partly optical illusion and partly the behavior of Neptune's orbit on the material of the rings.
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