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Naiad, the closest regular moon, is also the second smallest among the inner moons (following the discovery of Hippocamp), whereas Proteus is the largest regular moon and the second largest moon of Neptune. The first five moons orbit much faster than Neptune's rotation itself ranging from 7 hours for Naiad and Thalassa, to 13 hours for Larissa.
The bright blue diffraction star is Triton, Neptune's largest moon. Neptune has 16 known moons. [154] Triton is the largest Neptunian moon, accounting for more than 99.5% of the mass in orbit around Neptune, [i] and is the only one massive enough to be spheroidal. Triton was discovered by William Lassell just 17 days after the discovery of ...
Triton is the largest natural satellite of the planet Neptune. It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be rounded under its own gravity and hosts a thin, hazy atmosphere. Triton orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit—revolving in the opposite direction to the parent planet's rotation—the only large moon in the Solar System to do so.
Several of Neptune's moons are also visible, including Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Larissa and Proteus. In one image, a bright blue feature that looks like a star is actually the moon ...
Trident was proposed in 2021 as a discovery mission to visit Neptune and its moon Triton in the year, but two missions to Venus (DAVINCI+ and VERITAS) were selected over it. Neptune Odyssey is a flagship orbiter mission concept with similar goals as Trident and is targeted for a launch date of 2033. These missions have a high focus on learning ...
Astronomers have used telescope data to color-correct Voyager 2 images of Neptune and Uranus, revealing that the planets have a similar greenish blue hue.
Galatea inside of a faint ring arc near Neptune. Galatea was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 4. [10] The discovery was announced (IAUC 4824) on 2 August 1989, and mentions "10 frames taken over 5 days", implying a discovery date of sometime before July 28.
Despina's diameter is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi). [4] Despina is irregularly shaped and shows no sign of any geological modification. It is likely that it is a rubble pile re-accreted from fragments of Neptune's original satellites, which were disrupted by perturbations from Triton soon after that moon's capture into a very eccentric initial orbit.