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Larissa (moon)

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Larissa
Larissa from Voyager 2
Discovery
Discovered byHarold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky, and David J. Tholen[1]
Discovery dateMay 24, 1981
Designations
Designation
Neptune VII
Pronunciation/ləˈrɪsə/[2]
Named after
Λάρισσα Lārissa
S/1989 N 2
S/1981 N 1
AdjectivesLarissean,[3] Larissan,[4] Larissian[5] /ləˈrɪs(i)ən/
Orbital characteristics[6]
Epoch 1 January 2020
73 548 km
Eccentricity0.00121
0.554653 d
649.054°/d
Inclination0.214° (to local Laplace plane)
Satellite ofNeptune
Physical characteristics
Dimensions216 × 204 × 168 km
(± 6 × 16 × 4 km)[7]
97±3 km[7]
Volume~3.64×106 km3[a]
Mass~(0.19–5.7)×1018 kg[b]
Mean density
~0.052–1.57 g/cm3[c]
~0.001–0.054 m/s2[d]
~0.015–0.095 km/s[e]
synchronous (likely)[9]
zero (assumed)
Albedo0.091 (geometric)[7]
21.49[7]
6.78[7]

Larissa, also known as Neptune VII, is the fifth-closest inner satellite of Neptune. It is named after Larissa, a lover of Poseidon (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Neptune). Larissa is also the eponymous nymph of the city in Thessaly, Greece.

Discovery

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Voyager 2 was the space probe that confirmed the existence of Larissa

Larissa was first discovered by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky and David J. Tholen, based on fortuitous ground-based stellar occultation observations[11] on May 24, 1981. It was given the temporary provisional designation S/1981 N 1 and its supposed existence was announced on May 29, 1981.[12] The moon was later recovered and confirmed to be the only object in its orbit during the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989[13]: 1435  after which it received the additional designation S/1989 N 2 on August 2, 1989.[14] The announcement by Stephen P. Synnott spoke of "10 frames taken over 5 days", which gives a recovery date sometime before July 28. The name was given and then confirmed by the International Astronomical Union on September 16, 1991.[15]

Characteristics

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Size comparison between Larissa (lower left), the Moon (upper left) and Earth
Morphographic map of Larissa, showing whatever unclear surface features that Voyager 2 was able to image during its flyby.[8]

Larissa is the fourth-largest satellite of Neptune. It is irregular (non-spherical) in shape and appears to be heavily cratered, with no sign of any geological modification. It is likely that Larissa, like the other satellites inward of Triton, is a rubble pile re-accreted from fragments of Neptune's original satellites, which were disrupted by perturbations from Triton soon after that moon's capture into a very eccentric initial orbit.[16]

Larissa's orbit is nearly circular and lies below Neptune's synchronous orbit radius, which means it is slowly spiralling inward due to tidal deceleration and may eventually impact Neptune's atmosphere, or break up into a planetary ring upon passing its Roche limit due to tidal stretching, similarly to how Triton will eventually collide with Neptune or break into a planetary ring.

Larissa's surface contains hydrated materials, as evidenced by a deep 3-μm OH band,[17] phyllosilicates, and lacks clear signatures of water ice, suggesting that its composition may resemble carbonaceous chondrites and main belt asteroids such as Ceres. The presence of phyllosilicates indicate that Larissa accreted materials which was altered by prolonged exposure to water at temperatures between less than 300 to 400 K, and the bulk of this material have never been exposed to temperatures greater than 700 K, which would have dehydrated it.[18] Its surface albedo is 0.08 albedo at 1.4 and 2.0 microns, dropping to 0.03 at 3.0 microns, and increasing to 0.09 at 4.6 microns.[17]

Exploration

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Side-by-side comparison of Larissa imaged by Voyager 2 and an enhanced version to the right

Larissa has only been visited once by Voyager 2 in 1989. The probe was able to get some photographs with details of Larissa, showing its cratered surface; unlike the other inner moons of Neptune that only appeared as dots or smudges.

Notes

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  1. ↑ A volume of (3.5±1.0)×106 km3 was obtained from a detailed shape model, assuming dimensions of 208 × 192 × 178 km.[8] The long and short dimensions were estimated based on a single image, with the medium dimension simply assumed as halfway between those values.[9] The volume has been scaled to reflect more recently obtained dimensions of 216 × 204 × 168 km based on two images.[7]
  2. ↑ A density of 0.05–1.5 g/cm3 was calculated when assuming the volume as a sphere with a radius of 97±3 km, and assuming Larissa and Proteus share similar densities.[10] The mass was calculated with the provided density and volume.
  3. ↑ Density obtained from the calculated mass and the scaled volume.
  4. ↑ Surface gravity derived from the mass m, the gravitational constant G and the radius r:
  5. ↑ Escape velocity derived from the mass m, the gravitational constant G and the radius r:
Another image of Larissa as seen by Voyager 2

References

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  1. ↑ "Larissa In Depth". solarsystem.nasa.gov. 21 November 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Larissa". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
  3. ↑ Boccaccio (1974). The book of Theseus.
  4. ↑ Livy (1850 trans.) The history of Rome, v. 3
  5. ↑ Bell (1790). Bell's New pantheon.
  6. ↑ Brozović, M.; Showalter, M. R.; Jacobson, R. A.; French, R. S.; Lissauer, J. J.; de Pater, I. (March 1, 2020). "Orbits and resonances of the regular moons of Neptune". Icarus. 338 (2) 113462. arXiv:1910.13612. Bibcode:2020Icar..33813462B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113462. S2CID 204960799.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Karkoschka, Erich (2003). "Sizes, shapes, and albedos of the inner satellites of Neptune". Icarus. 162 (2): 400–407. Bibcode:2003Icar..162..400K. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(03)00002-2.
  8. 1 2 Stooke, Philip J. (1994). "The surfaces of Larissa and Proteus". Earth, Moon, and Planets. 65 (1): 31–54. Bibcode:1994EM&P...65...31S. doi:10.1007/BF00572198. S2CID 121825800.
  9. 1 2 Thomas, P.; Veverka, J. (1991-10-30). "Neptune's small inner satellites". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 96 (S01): 19261–19268. Bibcode:1991JGR....9619261T. doi:10.1029/91JA01461. eISSN 2156-2202. ISSN 0148-0227.
  10. ↑ Zhang, Ke; Hamilton, Douglas P. (2007-06-01). "Orbital resonances in the inner neptunian system: I. The 2:1 Proteus–Larissa mean-motion resonance". Icarus. 188 (2): 386–399. Bibcode:2007Icar..188..386Z. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.12.002. ISSN 0019-1035.
  11. ↑ Reitsema, Harold J.; Hubbard, William B.; Lebofsky, Larry A.; Tholen, David J. (1982). "Occultation by a Possible Third Satellite of Neptune". Science. 215 (4530): 289–291. Bibcode:1982Sci...215..289R. doi:10.1126/science.215.4530.289. PMID 17784355. S2CID 21385195.
  12. ↑ Marsden, Brian G. (May 29, 1981). "S/1981 N 1". IAU Circular (3608). Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  13. ↑ Smith, B. A.; Soderblom, L. A.; Banfield, D.; Barnet, C.; Basilevsky, A. T.; Beebe, R. F.; Bollinger, K.; Boyce, J. M.; Brahic, A. (1989). "Voyager 2 at Neptune: Imaging Science Results". Science. 246 (4936): 1422–1449. Bibcode:1989Sci...246.1422S. doi:10.1126/science.246.4936.1422. PMID 17755997. S2CID 45403579.
  14. ↑ Marsden, Brian G. (August 2, 1989). "Satellites of Neptune". IAU Circular (4824). Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  15. ↑ Marsden, Brian G. (September 16, 1991). "Satellites of Saturn and Neptune". IAU Circular (5347). Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  16. ↑ Banfield, Don; Murray, Norm (October 1992). "A dynamical history of the inner Neptunian satellites". Icarus. 99 (2): 390–401. Bibcode:1992Icar...99..390B. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(92)90155-Z.
  17. 1 2 Belyakov, Matthew; Davis, M. Ryleigh; Milby, Zachariah; Wong, Ian; Brown, Michael E. (2024-05-01). "JWST Spectrophotometry of the Small Satellites of Uranus and Neptune". The Planetary Science Journal. 5 (5): 119. arXiv:2404.06660. Bibcode:2024PSJ.....5..119B. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ad3d55. ISSN 2632-3338.
  18. ↑ Davis, M. Ryleigh; Belyakov, Matthew; Wong, Ian; Milby, Zachariah; Brown, Michael E. (2026). "Neptune's inner moons and rings are exposed icy body interiors". Science Advances. 12 (31) eaeb1437. arXiv:2607.27481. Bibcode:2026SciA...12b1437D. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aeb1437. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 13418922. PMID 42525780.
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