What is Nereid?
Q: What is Nereid?
A: Nereid, also known as Neptune II, is a moon of Neptune.
Q: Who discovered Nereid?
A: Nereid was discovered on 1 May 1949 by Gerard Kuiper.
Q: What is the name of this moon derived from?
A: The name of this moon is derived from the Nereids, sea-nymphs of Greek mythology.
Q: How big is Nereid?
A: Nereid has a diameter of 340 km and it is the third biggest out of all Neptune's moons.
Q: What does its orbit look like?
A: Its orbit averages 5,513,400 km in radius but it has an eccentricity that varies from 1,353,600 to 9,623,700 kilometres. It had the most highly eccentric orbit out of any known moon in the solar system for a long time until Bestla was discovered with an even more eccentric orbit.
Q: Was Voyager 2 able to take pictures of Nereid when it visited Neptune in 1989?
A: No, Voyager 2 was not able to take clear pictures due to how far away it was and no surface features could be seen at the resolution available.
Q: What are some theories about why its orbit looks so unusual?
A: Some theories suggest that it may have been captured from an asteroid or Kuiper belt object or possibly perturbed during Triton's capture as Neptune's largest moon.
