Hippocamp (moon)

Hippocamp
Composite of Hubble images from 2009 showing Neptune, its rings, and inner moons including Hippocamp (circled)[a]
Discovery[1]
Discovered byM. R. Showalter
I. de Pater
J. J. Lissauer
R. S. French
Discovery date1 July 2013
Designations
Designation
Neptune XIV
Pronunciation/ˈhɪpəkæmp/[2]
Named after
ἱππόκαμπος hippokampos
S/2004 N 1
AdjectivesHippocampian /hɪpəˈkæmpiən/[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch 1 January 2020 (JD 2458849.5)
Earliest precovery date6 November 2004[5]
105,283 km
Eccentricity0.00084±0.00032
0.95 d (22.8 h)
329.901°
Inclination0.0641°±0.0507° (to Neptune's equator)[6]
0.0019° (to local Laplace plane)[4]
110.467°
305.446°
Satellite ofNeptune
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.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpl-discovery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Hippocamp". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Anon. (1899) "Invocation to Neptune", Poems, New York, p. 84
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Brozovic2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CBET3586 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Showalter2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).