Hippocamp Facts for Kids

A Picture of Neptune's Moon Hippocamp
  • Moon Name: Hippocamp
  • Designation: Neptune XIV
  • Date Discovered: July 1st, 2013
  • Discovered by: M. R. Showalter and J. J. Lissauer
  • Average Orbit of Neptune: 65,419.82 mi
  • Total Volume: 732.69 mi3
  • Surface Area: 393 mi2

12 Hippocamp Facts for Kids

  1. Hippocamp is one of Neptune’s 14 known moons (natural satellites).
  2. Hippocamp is named after creature in Greek mythology that was half horse and half fish.
  3. Hippocamp is also designated as Neptune XIV.
  4. Hippocamp was discovered on July 1st, 2013 by M. R. Showalter and J. J. Lissauer.
  5. Hippocamp was discovered using photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope between 2004 and 2009.
  6. The average orbit distance for Hippocamp is 65,419.82 mi.
  7. The surface area of Hippocamp is 393 mi2.
  8. The total volume of Hippocamp is 732.69 mi3.
  9. Hippocamp orbits the planet Neptune every 22.281 hours.
  10. Hippocamp is the smallest moon of Neptune, based on diameter.
  11. Hippocamp is the sixth closest moon to Neptune.
  12. There are two hypotheses on the origin of Hippocamp. One is it was captured from the Kuiper belt and the other is it formed from the debris of an impact event on Proteus.

Additional Resources on Neptune’s moon Hippocamp

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.