Naiad

Naiad

Moon· orbits Neptune

Naiad is a moon orbiting Neptune.

Open in 3D viewSee Naiad in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Mass (est.)
1.28 × 10¹⁷ kg
0.00000174 Moon masses
Radius
29 km
2% of our Moon's radius
Surface gravity
0.0101 m/s²
0% of Earth's gravity
Orbit around Neptune
7.0 hours
0.29 Earth days

Science

Physical

Mass (estimated)
1.28 × 10¹⁷ kg · 0.00000174 Moon masses
Estimated from its size and an assumed density (~1.3 g/cm3); the GM is not dynamically constrained, so this is not a measurement. Source: JPL SSD Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters (GM NEP097).
Radius
29 km · 2% of our Moon's radius
JPL SSD Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters (mean radius)
Surface gravity
0.0101 m/s² · 0% of Earth's gravity
Estimated from the estimated mass and radius
Escape velocity
24.3 m/s · 0% of Earth's escape velocity
Estimated from the estimated mass and radius

Orbit around Neptune

Distance from Neptune
48,200 km
From JPL orbital elements
Orbital period
7.05 hours
From JPL orbital elements
Eccentricity
0
From JPL orbital elements
Inclination to Neptune's Laplace plane
4.70 °
From JPL orbital elements · The Laplace plane is the one a moon's orbit precesses about: close in it is the planet's equatorial plane, the plane of the rings, and further out it tilts toward the planet's own orbit.

Radiation & temperature

Insolation
0.00112 S⊕ · 1/893 of the sunlight Earth receives
Computed from the distance to the Sun (inverse-square; Earth's sunlight = 1), before any atmosphere.

Discovery & history

By
Voyager Science Team

Naiad was discovered in 1989 by Voyager Science Team. Neptune's moons are named after sea deities and nymphs of Greek mythology. Beyond its discovery and naming, little more about it has been individually recorded.

Images

Images from open archives · credit shown per image