Naiad (moon)

Naiad  Discovered by Voyager Imaging Team Discovered in September 1989 Orbital characteristicsEpoch 18 August  1989  Semi-major axis 48 227 ± 1 km  Eccentricity 0.0004 ± 0.0003  Orbital period 0.2943958 ± 0.0000002 d  Inclination 4.75 ± 0.03°  (to Neptune equator)
4.75° (to local Laplace plane) Is a moon of Neptune Physical characteristics Dimensions  96×60×52 km  Mass ~1.9 kg (based on assumed density) Mean density ~1.2 g/cm3 (estimate) Rotation period assumed synchronous Axial tilt ~zero presumably  Albedo (geometric) 0.07 Surface temp. ~51 K mean (estimate) Atmosphere none

Naiad or Neptune III is the closest moon to Neptune named after the Naiads of Greek legend. It was found sometime before mid-September, 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. The last moon to be discovered during the flyby, it was designated S/1989 N 6. Naiad is not a sphere and probably has not been changed by any internal geological processes after its formation. It orbits about 23,500 km above Neptune's cloud tops. 

Since the Voyager 2 flyby, the Neptune system has been studied a lot from ground-based observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope as well. In 2002-03, Keck telescope looked at the system using adaptive optics and detected easily the biggest four closer satellites. Thalassa was found with some image processing, but Naiad was not located.

 Other websites 
 Naiad Profile  by NASA's Solar System Exploration


Category:Neptune's moons