Key facts
- Category
- Moons
- Object class
- Small inner moon
- Scale fact
- 436 kmmaximum extent
- Host
- Neptune
Proteus
436 kmmaximum extent
Details
Proteus is Neptune's largest inner moon, a dark irregular body discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. It keeps a box-like shape near the threshold where gravity would round it out, while its battered dark surface shows no clear sign of geological remodeling.
Voyager 2 discovered Proteus in 1989 and resolved a dark, heavily cratered body with a distinctly box-like outline. At roughly 400 kilometers across it lies near the size at which self-gravity can overcome material strength and produce a round shape, but its actual form remains irregular. The images show no clear evidence of later geological resurfacing.
Links
- Universe journey
- Solar System
- Wikipedia
- Proteus on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Proteus on the scale
Sources
References for Proteus
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Proteus — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Voyager 2 1989 / NASA, Public domain)
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About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.