Galatea (moon)

Galatea  File:Galatea moon.jpg Discovery Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott Discovered in July 1989 Orbital characteristicsEpoch 18 August 1989  Semi-major axis 61 953 ± 1 km  Orbital eccentricity 0.00004 ± 0.00009  Orbital period 0.42874431 ± 0.00000001 d  Inclination 0.052 ± 0.011°  (to Neptune equator)
0.06° (to local Laplace plane) Is a moon of Neptune Physical characteristics Dimensions  204×184×144 km (±~10 km) Mass 2.12 ± 0.08  kg Mean density 0.75 ± 0.1 g/cm3  Rotation period assumed synchronous Axial tilt ~zero presumably  Albedo (geometric) 0.08 Surface temp. ~51 K mean (estimate) Atmosphere none

There is also an asteroid called 74 Galatea.

Galatea or Neptune VI, is the fourth closest moon to Neptune. It is named after Galatea, one of the Nereids of Greek legend.

Galatea was found in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. It was given the designation S/1989 N 4. The discovery was said (IAUC 4824) on August 2, 1989, but the text only talks of "10 frames taken over 5 days", giving a discovery date of sometime before July 28. The name was given on 16 September 1991.

It is not a sphere and shows no sign of any geological changes.

Other websites

 Galatea Profile  by NASA's Solar System Exploration

Category:Neptune's moons