Dear Sophie,

Thank you for posting your question here. It's great that a 13-year-old girl is reading Science Blog.

A great place to start is my book about Planetary Astronomer Heidi Hammel called Beyond Jupiter. Heidi is one of the world's experts on the atmosphere of Neptune. You can find the book in many libraries or buy it for $9.95 at many bookstores and online.

I have several pages of my website devoted to Heidi and the book. Start at www.fredbortz.com/HammelBio and follow a few links, including Heidi's "frequently asked questions." She has some answers about the atmospheres of her two favorite planets, Uranus and Neptune, although they are written for readers a bit older than you.

Heidi is very generous with her time when a young person asks a question, so after you spend a little time learning about her work, visit the main page of my website (www.fredbortz.com) and find the e-mail link. Send me an e-mail question for Heidi, and I'll pass it along to her. Make sure that the question shows that have have begun to learn about Neptune, and I bet she'll be glad to respond directly to you.

I hope you always follow your questions!

Scientifically yours,
"Dr. Fred" Bortz
Science and technology books for young readers (www.fredbortz.com)
and Science book reviews (www.scienceshelf.com)