Psamathe (moon)

Psamathe or Neptune X, is a non-spherical moon of Neptune.

Psamathe was found by Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt in 2003. It orbits Neptune at a distance of about 46,695,000 km and takes almost 25 Earth years to make one orbit. It is about 24 kilometers in diameter.

It is named after Psamathe, one of the Nereids. Before the announcement of its name on February 3, 2007 (IAUC 8802), it was known by the designation S/2003 N 1.

• Eccentricity: 0.4499
• Orbital inclination: 146.60° (to Neptune's equator), 124.39° (to the ecliptic)

Given the similarity of the orbit's parameters with Neso (S/2002 N 4), it was suggested that both non-spherical moons could have been a bigger moon that broken up.

Other websites

• David Jewitt pages
• Scott Sheppard pages
• Ephemeris (IAU)
• Mean orbital parameters (NASA)