August 25, 1989: The 1st Close-Up Pictures of the Planet Neptune

August 25, 1989: The probe Voyager 2 sends the 1st close-up pictures of the planet Neptune back to Earth.

The 8th planet from the Sun, and the furthest if one doesn't count Pluto, it was discovered, independently, in 1846 by British astronomer John Couch Adams and French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier. They based their findings on the fact that the planet Uranus did not move across the sky as expected, leading to the belief that an additional, further-out planet must have a gravitational effect on it. It was named after the ancient Roman god of the sea, known as Poseidon to the Greeks.

Like Jupiter, Saturn, and what turned out to be the 8th planet, Neptune, Uranus is a "gas giant." Also like them, it has rings, the result of a moon that didn't quite form. The rings were not discovered until 1977, making it the 2nd planet, after the considerably more obvious Saturn, to be found to have them. But the most notable feature of Uranus, emphasized by the rings, is its 98-degree axis tilt, easily the most extreme in Earth's solar system.

It was also in 1977 that the Voyager 2 probe was launched, with the intent of providing the 1st close-up pictures of Uranus and Neptune. It did the job, reaching Neptune on August 25, 1989, and providing pictures of the blue gases of the atmosphere.

Among the discoveries is that, like Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Neptune has rings. It also discovered that, just as Jupiter has an apparently permanent storm known as "The Great Red Spot," Neptune has a similar storm, known as "The Great Blue Spot." The probe also raised the planet's number of known moons from 2 to 15.

Voyager 2 is now the furthest-out probe ever launched from Earth, but is still providing telemetry.

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August 25, 1989 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Jeff Ballard outpitched Clay Parker. Cal Ripken Jr. went 3-for-4 with a walk. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Chris James won it with a home run off Randy Myers in the bottom of the 11th inning. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-5. Howard Johnson hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 and 11-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Robin Yount went 0-for-3, and Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 12-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. This was the day after manager Pete Rose was banned for life, for betting on baseball. Barry Bonds hit a home run. Gary Redus went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ryne Sandberg singled Rick Wrona home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-3 with a walk. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 7-4 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.