Nereid (pronounced /ˈnɪəriɪd/; also /ˈnɛriɪd/, as in Greek Νηρηΐδα), also known as Neptune II, is the third-largest moon of Neptune. It has a highly eccentric orbit. Nereid was discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper in 1949.
Nereid was discovered on May 1, 1949 by Gerard P. Kuiper, on photographic plates taken with the 82 inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory. He proposed the name in the report of his discovery. It is named after the Nereids, sea-ny...
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Nereid (pronounced /ˈnɪəriɪd/; also /ˈnɛriɪd/, as in Greek Νηρηΐδα), also known as Neptune II, is the third-largest moon of Neptune. It has a highly eccentric orbit. Nereid was discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper in 1949.
Nereid was discovered on May 1, 1949 by Gerard P. Kuiper, on photographic plates taken with the 82 inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory. He proposed the name in the report of his discovery. It is named after the Nereids, sea-nymphs of Greek mythology and attendants of the god Neptune. It was the last moon of Neptune to be discovered before the arrival of Voyager 2.
Nereid orbits Neptune in the prograde direction at an average distance of 5,513,400 km (3,425,900 mi), but its high eccentricity of 0.7507 takes it as close as 1,372,000 km (853,000 mi) and as far as 9,655,000 km (5,999,000 mi) from the planet.
The unusual orbit suggests that it may be a captured asteroid or Kuiper belt object, or that it was perturbed during the capture of Neptune's largest moon Triton....
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