Galatea (moon)

For the asteroid, see 74 Galatea.
Galatea
Galatea as seen by Voyager 2 (elongation is due to smearing)
Discovery
Discovered byStephen P. Synnott[1] and Voyager Imaging Team
Discovery dateJuly 1989
Designations
Designation
Neptune VI
Pronunciation/ɡæləˈtiːə/[2]
Named after
Γαλάτεια Galateia
AdjectivesGalatean[3]
Orbital characteristics[4][5]
Epoch 18 August 1989
61952.57 km
Eccentricity0.00022 ± 0.00008
0.42874431 ± 0.00000001 d
Inclination
  • 0.052 ± 0.011° (to Neptune equator)
  • 0.06° (to local Laplace plane)
Satellite ofNeptune
Groupring shepherd
Physical characteristics
Dimensions(204±10) × (184±16) × (144±8) km[6]
88±4 km[6]
Volume~2.8×106 km3[a]
Mass1.94×1018 kg[8]
Mean density
~0.69 g/cm3[b]
~0.012–0.025 m/s2[c]
~0.05–0.06 km/s[d]
synchronous
zero
Albedo0.08[6][9]
Temperature~51 K mean (estimate)
21.9[9]

Galatea /ɡæləˈtiːə/, also known as Neptune VI, is the fourth-closest inner moon of Neptune, and fifth-largest moon of Neptune. It is named after Galatea, one of the fifty Nereids of Greek legend, with whom Cyclops Polyphemus was vainly in love.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Willman-Neptune was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "galatea". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ AMIA (1999), Transforming health care through informatics
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jacobson2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Showalter2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Karkoschka2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Madeira & GiuliattiWinter 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Giuliatti Winter et al. (2020), as cited in Madeira & Giuliatti Winter (2022).[7]
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jplssd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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