Neptune's Largest Moon - Triton

Neptune's Moon Triton



Neptune's Named Moons (Biggest to Smallest)

  1. Triton - 2,700 Km in Diameter
  2. Proteus
  3. Nereid
  4. Larissa
  5. Galatea
  6. Despina
  7. Thalassa
  8. Naiad - 58 Km in Diameter
In comparison to these moons, our moon is 3,476 Km in Diameter. The Earth is 12,756 Km in Diameter, roughly 3.7 times the size of the moon. When you consider how large our moon is relative to the Earth, the moons of the gas giants are very small in proportion to their host planets. In Neptune's case, it's largest moon, Triton, is 2,700 Km in Diameter where Neptune itself is 49,500 Km's in Diameter. Therefore Neptune is roughly 18.3 times Triton's size! A much larger proportion than that of the Earth to its' moon.

Similarily, Pluto is less than twice the size of it's moon Charon. Which leads you to wonder, "How close in size do the moon and planet need to be before it becomes difficult to determine which is orbiting which?"


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