&sq=&lang=&file=File:Hippocamp-heic1904b.jpg) Composite of Hubble images from 2009 showing Neptune, its rings, and inner moons including Hippocamp (circled)[a] | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. R. Showalter I. de Pater J. J. Lissauer R. S. French |
| Discovery date | 1 July 2013 |
| Designations | |
Designation | Neptune XIV |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɪpəkæmp/[2] |
Named after | ἱππόκαμπος hippokampos |
| S/2004 N 1 | |
| Adjectives | Hippocampian /hɪpəˈkæmpiən/[3] |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 1 January 2020 (JD 2458849.5) | |
| Earliest precovery date | 6 November 2004[5] |
| 105,283 km | |
| Eccentricity | 0.00084±0.00032 |
| 0.95 d (22.8 h) | |
| 329.901° | |
| Inclination | 0.0641°±0.0507° (to Neptune's equator)[6] 0.0019° (to local Laplace plane)[4] |
| 110.467° | |
| 305.446° | |
| Satellite of | Neptune |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 17.4±2.0 km[6] | |
| Mass | (1.029–30.87)×1015 kg[4][b] |
| synchronous | |
| Albedo | ≈0.09 (assumed)[6] |
| 26.5±0.3[5] | |
Hippocamp, also designated Neptune XIV, is a small moon of Neptune discovered on 1 July 2013. It was found by astronomer Mark Showalter by analyzing archived Neptune photographs the Hubble Space Telescope captured between 2004 and 2009. The moon is so dim that it was not observed when the Voyager 2 space probe flew by Neptune and its moons in 1989. It is about 35 km (20 mi) in diameter, and orbits Neptune in about 23 hours, just under one Earth day. Due to its unusually close distance to Neptune's largest inner moon Proteus, it has been hypothesized that Hippocamp may have accreted from material ejected by an impact on Proteus several billion years ago. The moon was formerly known by its provisional designation S/2004 N 1 until February 2019, when it was formally named Hippocamp, after the mythological sea-horse symbolizing Poseidon in Greek mythology.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
jpl-discoverywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Hippocamp". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020.
- ^ Anon. (1899) "Invocation to Neptune", Poems, New York, p. 84
- ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
Brozovic2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
CBET3586was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Showalter2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page).