Space Topics: Neptune
Neptune's Moon Proteus
Voyager 2 found Proteus to be a dark, ancient, lumpy moon. Credit:
NASA/JPL |
Diameter: 436 x 416 x 402 kilometers
Orbital distance: 117,600 kilometers from Neptune
Orbital period: 1.12 days
Discovery: 1986 by Voyager 2
Proteus is a relatively large moon, similar in size to Saturn’s moon Mimas,
but was not discovered until Voyager 2 flew by because it is very dark and
orbits very close to Neptune. Like Mimas, it is irregular in shape,
heavily cratered, and has no sign of internally generated geologic activity
in its past.
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