Overview[]
Formerly designated as S/1989 N 6, Naiad, also known as Neptune III is the innermost known Neptunian natural satellite and the 9th largest Neptunian moon in terms of size. It is likely formed by Triton gravitationally perturbed one of Neptune's original moons after being recently captured, causing the destruction of Neptune's previous major moons and the creation of smaller, second-generation moons and by one of them being Naiad.[2] In the far future, Naiad will likely break up to produce a new planetary ring or disintegrates as it falls into the Neptunian atmosphere by the cause of tidal dissipation. The little moon got its name on 16th of September, 1991 and named after the Naiads in Greek mythology.[3]
Discovery[]
During the Voyager 2's stellar expedition of Neptune, It taken many images and by one of them included Naiad but it was later not discovered until in a middle of September, 1989, when the Voyager Imaging Team discovered the minor moon. The discovery of Naiad was publicized on 29th of September, 1989 and since Naiad is the last inner Neptunian moon to be discovered, it received a provisional designation S/1989 N 6.[4][5]
Physical characteristics[]
Naiad is probably made up out of small fragments from Neptune's former major moons.[2] It is irregularly shaped due to its small size and has a diameter of 44.79 km. Its close proximity to its parent planet, Neptune means it is probably tidally locked to its planet with only one side facing Neptune and other facing away.
Orbit[]
The orbit of Naiad is bizarre when compared to other inner moons of Neptune, while the eccentricity remains near zero, the inclination is at about 5°10'01.19", Naiad is also in a 73:69 orbital resonance with another small natural satellite, Thalassa, to Thalassa's point of view, Naiad seems to passes Thalassa orbital plane as it goes above and below twice in a cycle repeated when Naiad gains four laps on Thalassa or 21.5 Earth days, this peculiar resonance stabilizes the orbit of Naiad and Thalassa. This may because Naiad is kicked into a more inclined orbit with an interaction of Neptune's former moons, and later Naiad got captured into 73:69 orbital resonance with another small natural satellite, Thalassa.[6]
Gallery[]
- ↑ http://www.princeton.edu/~willman/planetary_systems/Sol/Neptune/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/001910359290155Z?via%3Dihub
- ↑ https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/neptune-moons/naiad/in-depth/
- ↑ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/05300/05347.html
- ↑ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/04800/04867.html
- ↑ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-finds-neptune-moons-locked-in-dance-of-avoidance