Despina is a tiny moon located within Neptune's faint ring system. The irregularly-shaped moon orbits Neptune every eight hours, circling in the same direction as Neptune's own rotation. Despina remains close to Neptune's equatorial plane.
Discovery:
Despina was discovered in July 1989 by the Voyager 2 science team.
How Despina Got its Name:
Moons of Neptune are named for characters from Greek or Roman mythology associated with Neptune or Poseidon, or the oceans. Irregular satellites are named for the Nereids, daughters of Nereus and Doris and the attendants of Neptune.
Despina is a daughter of Poseidon (the Roman god Neptune) and Demeter. Despina was originally designated S/1989 N3.
