Discovery of Halimede

Halimede is an irregular moon of Neptune, discovered by a team of astronomers that included Matthew Holman and J. J. Kavelaars using large ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. It orbits far from the planet in a retrograde direction, opposite to the planet's rotation, along a markedly elliptical path. Because of its orbit, some astronomers have suggested it may be a fragment of Nereid, Neptune's other large outer moon, broken off in a collision. It is named after one of the Nereids, sea nymphs of Greek mythology, following the convention that Neptune's moons take names from sea deities.

Open on the timeline