Thermal Atlas of the Solar System
Neptune
Temperature at 100 mbar (Voyager 2)
Temperature map of Neptune's upper atmosphere from Voyager 2's 1989 flyby: a warm equator and south pole, and colder mid-latitudes.
About Neptune
Neptune has no surface. This is the temperature near the top of its lower atmosphere, where the pressure is a tenth of Earth's, measured by Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to visit, when it flew past in August 1989.
As on Uranus, the equator is the warmest, the mid-latitudes are about 5 °C colder, and it warms again towards the south pole. It was southern summer: the far north was in the long polar night and out of Voyager's view, so it is shown gray.
Each season on Neptune lasts about 40 years. Telescope images from 2003-2007 show the same pattern at low and middle latitudes, while around the south pole it had warmed by 5-6 °C. Voyager's measurements were averaged around each latitude, so the map shows bands only.