Despina (1989N3) (GIF)

Neptune V - 1989N3

Despina, only 27,700 kilometers (17,200 miles) from Neptune's clouds, orbits every 8 hours. Its diameter is about 150 kilometers (90 miles). It is irregularly shaped and shows no sign of any geological modification. Despina circles the planet in the same direction as Neptune rotates, and remains close to Neptune's equatorial plane.

Despina Statistics

Discovered by ..................................... Voyager 2
Date of discovery ...................................... 1989

Mass (kg) ................................................. ?
Equatorial radius (km) ................................... 74
Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) .................... 1.1602e-02
Mean density (gm/cm^3) .................................... ?

Mean distance from Neptune (km) ...................... 52,500
Rotational period (days) .................................. ?
Orbital period (days) .............................. 0.334655
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) ........................ 11.41

Orbital eccentricity ................................. 0.0001
Orbital inclination .................................... 0.07°

Visual geometric albedo ................................ 0.06
Magnitude (Vo) ......................................... 22.6

Neptune Thalassa Galatea

Author: Calvin J. Hamilton.