Scientists have discovered a new moon for Neptune, raising its number of moons to fourteen.
In honor of this new discovery, here are five neat facts about Neptune’s newest moon:
- The new moon does not have a name yet, besides its scientific tag S/2005n1.
- It is less than 12-miles across, making it the smallest of the fourteen.
- It is 100 million times fainter than the faintest star seen by the naked eye.
- The moon was discovered by going through data on the Hubbell telescope.
- It is most likely a captured object since it is not made of the same elements as Neptune.
Lake Effect contributor Jean Creighton is the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium on the campus of UW-Milwaukee. She spoke to us this month about the moons of Neptune.
