Neptune oyster parking. Proteus orbits Neptune about every 27 hours.
Neptune oyster parking. Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Like our own moon, Triton is locked in synchronous rotation with Neptune―one side faces the planet at all times. As Uranus and Neptune drifted farther outward, they passed through the dense disk of small, icy bodies left over after the giant planets formed. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system. Millions of years from now, Triton will come close enough for gravitational forces to break it apart – possibly forming a ring around Neptune bright enough for Lassell to have seen with his telescope. It shares many similarities with Pluto, the best known world of the Kuiper Belt. May 18, 2023 · Moons About Moons BY DESTINATION Earth (1) Mars (2) Jupiter (95) Saturn (83) Uranus (27) Neptune (14) Pluto (5) Asteroids, Comets & Meteors About Asteroids, Comets & Meteors BY TYPE In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons. Neptune's orbit was the farthest out, and its gravity bent the paths of countless icy bodies inward toward the other giants. Proteus orbits Neptune about every 27 hours. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. . Oct 21, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Overview Proteus is one of the largest of Neptune's known moons, although it is not as big as Triton. As these planets grew in the early solar system, they were able to capture smaller objects with their large gravitational fields. Oct 21, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper (for whom the Kuiper Belt was named) found Neptune's third-largest moon, Nereid, in 1949. May 18, 2023 · Moons About Moons BY DESTINATION Earth (1) Mars (2) Jupiter (95) Saturn (83) Uranus (27) Neptune (14) Pluto (5) Asteroids, Comets & Meteors About Asteroids, Comets & Meteors BY TYPE Moons About Moons BY DESTINATION Earth (1) Mars (2) Jupiter (95) Saturn (83) Uranus (27) Neptune (14) Pluto (5) Asteroids, Comets & Meteors About Asteroids, Comets & Meteors BY TYPE Oct 21, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Oct 21, 2025 · Moons About Moons BY DESTINATION Earth (1) Mars (2) Jupiter (95) Saturn (83) Uranus (27) Neptune (14) Pluto (5) Asteroids, Comets & Meteors About Asteroids, Comets & Meteors BY TYPE You are using an outdated browser. Scientists think Triton is a Kuiper Belt Object captured by Neptune's gravity millions of years ago. The moon has an odd box-like shape and if it had just a little more mass it would be able to transform into a sphere. He missed Proteus, the second-largest because it's too dark and too close to Neptune for telescopes of that era. d2lbo9ehdkys12ew8aze9npjzpryuxjv5la1n5dnz3aifawa7p7b