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Quiz about Neptunian Moons
Quiz about Neptunian Moons

Neptunian Moons Trivia Quiz


Neptune, the furthest planet from the Sun, has fourteen currently known moons. How much do you know about them?

A multiple-choice quiz by RoryReloaded. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
RoryReloaded
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
361,896
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
240
Last 3 plays: angostura (10/10), rossian (10/10), comark2000 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Let's be honest: the vast majority of Neptunian moons are quite lacking in diameter. One moon of Neptune makes the other thirteen moons look like mere pebbles, but which one? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In the past thirty years, eleven moons have been discovered to be orbiting Neptune - these discoveries usually take place in 'bursts', where multiple moons are discovered by the same discovery team. How many moons were discovered in 2002? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which moon was discovered by Gerard Peter Kuiper, the namesake of the Kuiper Belt at the outskirts of the Solar System?

Answer: (One word, six letters)
Question 4 of 10
4. Neptune's moon system has the distinction of having the moon with the largest orbital period (the time it takes for the moon to complete a full orbit around its planet) in the Solar System. Which moon holds this honour? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Triton's orbit around Neptune is highly eccentric.


Question 6 of 10
6. Thalassa is probably made up of fragments of the original satellites of Neptune.


Question 7 of 10
7. Usually, there is a common trend in the origins of names of moons in specific lunar systems; for example, Uranus's moons get their names from characters of plays written by Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Where exactly do Neptunian moons get their names from? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The Voyager 2 probe had a hand in the discovery of a few moons in 1989. How many moons did it discover? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The inner moons of Neptune are somewhat... attached to Neptune's rings, with some of them orbiting within or extremely close to Neptune's ring system. Which two inner moons orbit between the Galle and LeVerrier rings? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Proteus is a heavily cratered Neptunian moon. What is the name of its largest crater, which has a diameter of around 230-260 km?

Answer: (One word, Greek origins)

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Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : angostura: 10/10
Feb 18 2024 : rossian: 10/10
Jan 30 2024 : comark2000: 10/10

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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Let's be honest: the vast majority of Neptunian moons are quite lacking in diameter. One moon of Neptune makes the other thirteen moons look like mere pebbles, but which one?

Answer: Triton

With a diameter of 2 700 km, Triton dwarfs the Neptunian moon with the next-largest diameter, Proteus - Proteus's diameter is a mere fraction of Triton's, at 420 km. Triton is, in fact, the seventh-largest moon in the Solar System.
2. In the past thirty years, eleven moons have been discovered to be orbiting Neptune - these discoveries usually take place in 'bursts', where multiple moons are discovered by the same discovery team. How many moons were discovered in 2002?

Answer: 4

The irregular moons Sao, Neso, Laomedeia and Halimede were discovered in 2002 by Matthew J. Holman and his team, consisting of astronomers such as Dan Milisavljevic and John J. Kavelaars. These are all very small moons relatively far away from Neptune following highly eccentric orbits. Triton, Nereid and Larissa - the first three moons to be discovered - were discovered in 1846 (by William Lassell), 1949 (by Gerard Kuiper) and 1981 (by David Tholen and his team of astronomers), respectively.
3. Which moon was discovered by Gerard Peter Kuiper, the namesake of the Kuiper Belt at the outskirts of the Solar System?

Answer: Nereid

Nereid was discovered by Kuiper in 1949, and was the second moon of Neptune to be discovered. Nereid is an irregular moon of Neptune which follows a very eccentric orbit in a prograde (clockwise) manner. It is the third largest moon of Neptune, with a diameter of approximately 350 km.
4. Neptune's moon system has the distinction of having the moon with the largest orbital period (the time it takes for the moon to complete a full orbit around its planet) in the Solar System. Which moon holds this honour?

Answer: Neso

Neso takes around 9 741 days to complete a full orbit of Neptune, or around 26.7 years. Neso also holds the accolade of being the greatest distance away from its planet, orbiting at around 49 285 000 km from Neptune. It's thought that Neso and another moon - Psamathe - originated from the break-up of a larger moon long ago, due to their similar orbital paths.
5. Triton's orbit around Neptune is highly eccentric.

Answer: False

Despite being classified as an irregular moon of Neptune owing to its retrograde (anti-clockwise) orbit and moderate distance from Neptune (around 355 000 km), Triton's orbit is almost perfectly circular. It's also much closer to Neptune than the other irregular moons; Nereid is the next furthest moon from Neptune, but orbits 5 513 818 km away - a far cry from Triton's comparatively measly distance.
6. Thalassa is probably made up of fragments of the original satellites of Neptune.

Answer: True

Triton probably destroyed the original satellites of Neptune when it was captured and travelling on an extremely eccentric orbit. The leftover bits and pieces then accumulated to form the irregular, disc-shaped Thalassa. Thalassa is slowly spiralling towards Neptune thanks to tidal deceleration, and will eventually crash into Neptune's atmosphere... or perhaps break up into another Neptunian ring.
7. Usually, there is a common trend in the origins of names of moons in specific lunar systems; for example, Uranus's moons get their names from characters of plays written by Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Where exactly do Neptunian moons get their names from?

Answer: Greek mythology

All of Neptune's moons are named after Greek water deities, and quite a few of Neptune's moons - such as Galatea, Psamanthe, Neso and Sao - receive their names from the Nereids, who, in Greek mythology, were the 50 nymph children of Nereus and Doris. This is in contrast to Neptune, which was named after the Roman god of the sea (a parallel to Poseidon, the Greek of the sea).
8. The Voyager 2 probe had a hand in the discovery of a few moons in 1989. How many moons did it discover?

Answer: 5

Voyager 2 discovered Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea and Proteus in 1989, all inner moons of Neptune - that is, they orbit relatively close to Neptune. These moons are quite dark, reflecting very little light, and are hypothesised to be made up of rubble left behind from original satellites of Neptune that collided with Triton when it was first captured into a very eccentric and wild orbit.
9. The inner moons of Neptune are somewhat... attached to Neptune's rings, with some of them orbiting within or extremely close to Neptune's ring system. Which two inner moons orbit between the Galle and LeVerrier rings?

Answer: Naiad and Thalassa

Naiad and Thalassa are the two innermost moons of Neptune, orbiting 48 227 km and 50 074 km from Neptune, respectively. Despina is assumed to be a 'shepherd' moon of the LeVerrier ring: it orbits WITHIN this ring, not between it and the Galle ring. Galatea, another inner moon, orbits within the Adams ring - the brightest of all Neptune's rings.
10. Proteus is a heavily cratered Neptunian moon. What is the name of its largest crater, which has a diameter of around 230-260 km?

Answer: Pharos

Pharos is the only surface feature of Proteus that's been given a name. Pharos is about 10-15 km deep and is named for the island where Proteus's namesake, a Greek shape-shifting sea god, reigned. Proteus is also lined with valleys and grooves, as well as many, many more craters with varying diameters.
Source: Author RoryReloaded

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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