11th Largest Moon of Neptune - Sao (10th Moon outwards from Neptune)

Sao is a prograde irregular satellite of Neptune.

Sao is the 11th overall largest satellite of Neptune and 68th largest moon in the Solar System currently known.

Discovery

Matthew J. Holman, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA); John J. Kavelaars, National Research Council of Canada; T. Grav, University of Oslo and CfA; and W. Fraser and Dan Milisavljevic, McMaster University, reported the discovery of three satellites of Neptune on CCD images obtained in 14 August 2002 with the 4-m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo.

One of the satellites was Sao.

Naming

The moon was given the temporary designation S/2002 N2.

Sao the moon is named after one of the Nereids, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. Sao was associated with sailing and is referred to as "The rescuer" or "Safety".

Stats

Diameter (mean): 44 km

Semi-major axis: 22,228,000 km

Orbital Period: 2912.72 days

Rotation Period: ?

Orbit

Sao follows an exceptionally inclined and moderately eccentric orbit in relation to other irregular satellites of Neptune.

Sao is in so-called Kozai resonance, i.e. its inclination and eccentricity are coupled (the inclination of the orbit decreases while eccentricity increases and vice versa).

Physical characteristics

Little is known about Sao.

Sao is about 44 kilometers in diameter (assuming an albedo of 0.04).