Psamathe, a moon of Neptune
29,017,979 miles
24 miles
Psamathe is one of Neptune's fourteen moons. It has a diameter of 38 kilometres (24 miles). It orbits at an average distance of 46.7 million kilometres (29 million miles) from Neptune, taking 9,117 Earth days to complete a full journey around the planet. It is the thirteenth most distant moon from Neptune.
Psamathe was discovered on 1st September 2003 by the astronomers Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt and Jan Kleyna using the Subaru telescope at Mauna Key Observatory in Hawaii. Their discovery was confirmation that an object that had previously been detected in August 2001 by a team of other astronomers (led by Matthew Holman) was a moon of Neptune.
Psamathe is classed as an irregular retrograde moon. An irregular moon usually refers to a moon that has been captured by a planet's gravity rather than one which formed around it. A retrograde moon is one that orbits in the opposite direction of its host planet's rotation. It's likely that Psamathe was originally an asteroid or an object that formed in the Kuiper Belt.
In Greek mythology, Psamathe is one of the Nereids, one of the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris. The Nereids are kind and helpful sea nymphs. Psamathe is goddess of the sand. To avenge the death of her son Phocus at the hands of his half-brothers Peleus and Telemon, Psamathe sends a wolf to attack Peleus' herds. Psamathe then turns the wolf into stone. These myths confuse me!
The moon Psamathe officially got its name on 3rd February 2007. Its provisional name was S/2003 N 1. It may also be referred to as Neptune X.
