New Neptunian Moons

Updated May 8, 2019 | Infoplease Staff

In Jan. 2003, astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the National Research Council of Canada announced that three new moons had been discovered orbiting Neptune. Although S/2002 N1, S/2002 N2, and S2002 N3 are tiny, about 18–24 mi (30–40 km) in diameter, the astronomers made their discovery using ground-based telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. Voyager 2's flyby probably missed the three new satellites because of their size and their distance from Neptune. Two more moons were announced later in 2003, bringing the total to 13.