About HSCII
HSCII is a non-profit focused on improving the scientific publishing process and making humanity's scientific knowledge more accessible.
Our Mascot
Neptune — the farthest known planet from the Sun. We've only visited it once, in 1989. Most of what we know comes from a single flyby and a handful of telescope observations. It reminds us how much is still out there, barely seen.
Neptune in true colour
Captured by Voyager 2 on August 20, 1989, from 4.4 million miles. Shows the Great Dark Spot, bright cirrus-like clouds, and banding in the southern hemisphere.
Source: NASA/JPL PIA02210
Cloud structure at close approach
Voyager 2 wide-angle camera, August 1989, from ~590,000 km. Shows cirrus-like cloud streaks and atmospheric wave patterns in true colour.
Source: NASA/JPL PIA00063
First ground-based image sharper than Hubble
Captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope using MUSE with GALACSI adaptive optics, July 2018. The first time a ground-based observatory surpassed Hubble's resolution of Neptune.
Source: ESO/P. Weilbacher