How many moons does Neptune have?

Question

How many moons does Neptune have?

7 Answers

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Answer 1

Hello! It looks like Neptune has 13 known moons.

Triton

Triton is the largest of Neptune's moons. It is the 7th largest moon in the Solar System, and is really unique because it orbits the planet in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation.

Nereid

This little moon is actually Neptune's third largest. Nereid is named after a sea-nymph in Greek mythology, and was discovered in 1949.

Larissa

Larissa was the next one of Neptune's moons to be discovered in 1981, but they lost it again! Oops. They didn't find it again until 1989 when Voyager 2 arrived on Neptune.

NASA made up for losing Larissa though, because when Voyager 2 found it again, it also found 5 inner moons:

Naiad

Thalassa

(Looks the same as Naiad to me...)

Despina

Galatea

Proteus

I think this one looks kinda gross. Apparently it's also referred to as Neptune VIII.

Then....

In 2002 and 2003, 5 more moons were discovered orbiting Neptune. These are:

Halimede

Psamathe

Neso

(Artist impression) Neso is also known as Neptune XIII.

...And Sao and Laomedeia, which are apparently too diddy to have pictures of.

Hope this has given you some insight. You might find this video showing you the orbits of Neptune's moons interesting:

Answer 2

nathaniel moir answered

Neptune has 13 moons

Answer 3

14 known moons.

Answer 4

I'm starting to think Neptune has 14 moons

Answer 5

nathaniel Moir answered

13

Answer 6

Neptune currently has 13 moons that we know about,
that seems like a lot compared to Earth's one moon. I have made a
list of all Neptune's moons in the order in which they were discovered.

Triton - This is Neptune’s biggest moon,
measuring a huge 2700km across. This moon has fascinated scientists
for years as it strangely rotates round the planet in the opposite
direction to the way Neptune is rotating.
Nereid - Neptune’s third largest moon but
with a diameter of only 340km.
Larissa - This moon was first found in 1981.
Soon after it was found however, the astronomers could not find it
again, and it wasn't re-discovered until 1989!
Despina - Third innermost moon to Neptune. It
is likely to just be a rubble pile, much like the other moons
closest to Neptune.
Galatea - Discovered in late July 1989 by a
NASA space craft flying past Neptune.
Naiad - Like many of the moons, this was named
after Greek mythology and is irregular in shape.
Thalassa - It's name is the Greek word for
sea, this moon is slowly getting closer to Neptune itself, and many
soon reach the planets atmosphere.
Proteus - Neptune’s second largest moon was
named after a Greek God of the sea. It is 400km across but covered
in craters and grooves.
Halimede - Only discovered in 2002 and is only
about 62km in diameter. It is thought to be a piece of Nereid.
Sao- Also discovered in 2002 by an Earth
observatory.
Laomedeia - One of Neptune's 'tiny' moons,
measuring only 42km across.
Psamath e- Discovered in 2003. To orbit
Neptune it takes about 25 years!
Neso - Neptune's outermost moon. It is the
most distant moon to its planet that has ever been discovered and
takes 26 and a half years to orbit.

Answer 7

Neptune has 14 moons