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Psamathe (moon)
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Wikipedia
Psamathe (sam'-ə-thee, ; Latin Psamathē from Greek Ψαμάθη), or Neptune X, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Neptune.
Psamathe was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt in 2003. It orbits Neptune at a distance of about 46,695,000 km and remarkably takes almost 25 Earth years to make one orbit. It is about 38 kilometers in diameter.
It is named after Psamathe, one of the Nereids. Before the announcement of its name on February 3, 2007 (IAUC 8802), it was known by the provisional designation S/2003 N 1.
Given the similarity of the orbit's parameters with Neso (S/2002 N 4), it was suggested that both irregular satellites could have a common origin in the break-up of a larger moon.
See also
References
External links
- Neptune's Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)
- Ephemeris IAU-NSES
- Mean orbital parameters (NASA)
- IAUC 8193
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Last updated on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 16:09:31 PDT (GMT -0700)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 16:09:31 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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