NEPTUNE'S SATELLITES


Neptune has 8 known satellites: Tritone is the most one and was the only one known until the exploration of the planet by the Voyager 2 probe in 1989. Tritone has a known feature to rotate around to Neptune in retrograde sense that is contrary of that one of all the others its satellites. Nereide has a elliptic orbit with an eccentricity of 0.75, and it goes away from Neptune, until to a maximum of 200 times the radius of the planet. 
  

Satellite  Distance  Radius    Mass  Discoverer    Date   
           (1000 km)   (km)     (kg)                
---------  --------  ------  -------  ----------   ----------

Despina          53      74      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Galatea          62      79      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Larissa          74      96      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Naiad            48      29      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Nereid         5509     170      ?    Kuiper       1949
Proteus         118     209      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Thalassa         50      40      ?    Voyager 2    1989
Triton          355    1350  2.14e22  Lassell      1846



Triton, the most one of the Neptune's satellites. The icecap south, of color rose, is probably composed from frozen nitrogen. (NASA/JPL)


The satellite Galatea. (Calvin J. Hamilton)


Proteus satellite in a view of the Voyager 2 probe. (Calvin J. Hamilton)




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