Neptune's moon S/2004 N1, now officially named Hippocamp, was discovered on July 1, 2013, by astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute. The discovery was made using images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Despite its small size, estimated to be about 34 kilometers (21 miles) in diameter, Hippocamp's detection was a significant achievement due to the challenges posed by its faint visibility and proximity to Neptune.
Hippocamp orbits Neptune at a distance of approximately 105,300 kilometers (65,400 miles) and completes an orbit roughly every 23 hours. The moon's name, Hippocamp, is derived from a mythical sea creature in Greek mythology, fitting the convention of naming Neptune's moons after mythological figures associated with the sea.
The discovery of Hippocamp added to our understanding of Neptune's complex system of moons and rings. It also highlighted the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope in detecting small, distant objects in the outer solar system. The moon's small size and close orbit suggest it may be a fragment resulting from a collision involving one of Neptune's larger moons, potentially Proteus, indicating a dynamic and possibly tumultuous history in Neptune's moon system.
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