Despina (moon)
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Despina Template:IPAc-en, also known as Neptune V, is the third-closest inner moon of Neptune. It is named after the Greek mythological character Despoina, a Goddess who was a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter.
Discovery
Despina was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 3.<ref name="IAUC 4824" /> The discovery was announced (IAUC 4824) on 2 August 1989, and mentions "10 frames taken over 5 days", implying a discovery date of sometime before July 28. The name was given on 16 September 1991.<ref name="IAUC 5347" />
Physical characteristics
Despina's diameter is approximately Template:Convert.<ref name="Karkoschka2003" /> Despina is irregularly shaped and shows no sign of any geological modification. It is likely that it is a rubble pile re-accreted from fragments of Neptune's original satellites, which were disrupted by perturbations from Triton soon after that moon's capture into a very eccentric initial orbit.<ref name="BanfieldMurray1992" />
Compositionally, Despina appears to be similar to other small inner Neptunian satellites, with a deep 3.0 micron feature attributed to water ice or hydrated silicate minerals. It has a 0.09 albedo at 1.4 microns, 0.1 albedo at 2.0 microns, dropping to 0.03 at 3.0 microns, and increasing to 0.07 at 4.6 microns.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Orbit
Despina's orbit lies close to but outside of the orbit of Thalassa and just inside the Le Verrier ring and acts as its shepherd moon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As it is also below Neptune's synchronous orbit radius, it is slowly spiralling inward due to tidal deceleration and may eventually impact Neptune's atmosphere, or break up into a planetary ring upon passing its Roche limit due to tidal stretching.
Notes
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References
External links
- Despina Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Neptune's Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)
- Template:APOD
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