Jul 5 1989
From The Space Library
Planetary scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) confirmed that the Voyager 2 space probe had discovered a third moon orbiting Neptune. The moon, temporarily designated 1989 N1, was estimated to be between 125 and 400 miles in diameter and to be in a near-circular orbit 57,600 miles above Neptune's equator. Additionally, JPL announced that a pair of dark atmospheric bands had been discovered around Neptune's south pole. The scientists compared the 2,700 mile-wide belts to jet streams on Earth and to the belts seen around Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. The photograph showing the south pole bands also revealed evidence of comparable bands around Neptune's north pole. Voyager 2 was scheduled to fly to within 3,000 miles of Neptune on August 24. (NASA Release 89-110, Jul 7/89; JPL Voyager Status Report, Jul 7/89; AP, Jul 5/89; W Post, Jul 6/89; UPI, Jul 7/89; NY Times, Jul 8/89; W Post, Jul 8/89; LA Times, Jul 8/89; C Trib, Jul 8/89; P Inq, Jul 8/89)
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