Larissa (moon)

Larissa  350px Two views of Larissa by Voyager 2 Discovery Discovered by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky,  and David J. Tholen Discovered on May 24, 1981 Orbital characteristicsEpoch 18 August 1989  Semi-major axis 73 548 ± 1 km  Eccentricity 0.001393 ± 0.00008  Orbital period 0.55465332 ± 0.00000001 d  Inclination 0.251 ± 0.009°  (to Neptune equator)
0.205° (to local Laplace plane) Is a moon of Neptune Physical characteristics Dimensions  216×204×164 km (± ~10 km) Mass ~4.2 kg (estimate)  Mean density ~1.2 g/cm3 (estimate) Rotation period assumed synchronous Axial tilt ~zero presumably  Albedo (geometric) 0.09 Surface temp. ~51 K mean (estimate) Atmosphere none

Larissa or Neptune VII, is the fifth closest moon to Neptune. It is named after Larissa, a lover of Poseidon (Neptune) in Greek mythology.

It was first found by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky and David J. Tholen based on ground-based stellar occultation observations on May 24, 1981, and given the designation S/1981 N 1 and said on 29 May 1981. The moon was refound and confirmed to be the only object in its orbit during the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 after which it received another designation S/1989 N 2 on August 2, 1989.

Larissa is not a sphere and appears to be cratered a lot, with no sign of any geological changes. Little else is known about it.

Other websites
 Larissa Profile  by NASA's Solar System Exploration

Category:Neptune's moons