There are 288 discovered natural satellites – or moons, as they are colloquially known – in the Solar system. Most of these are found in the outer gas giants. However, many of these have not received proper names as they were discovered recently and have yet to be confirmed. Only 164 moons have proper names.
Out of those, there are 4 moons whose names start with the letter N. These are all listed in the following table. Below you will also find some additional details about each, including physical characteristics, the original meaning of their names, etc.
| Name | Planet | Name meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Naiad | Neptune | Named after the Naiads, spirts or nymphs of rivers, seas, fountains, etc. |
| Narvi | Saturn | Named after Narfi, a Jötunn (giant) in Norse mythlogy |
| Nereid | Neptune | Named after the Nereids, the sea-nymphs of Greek mythology |
| Neso | Neptune | One of the Nereids in Greek mythology |
Naiad
Naiad, discovered in 1989 by the Voyager 2 imaging science team, is the innermost moon of Neptune. Named after the water nymphs of Greek mythology, it’s a small irregular body approximately 58 kilometers in diameter. Its orbit is gradually decaying due to tidal forces, and it’s expected to either break up into a planetary ring or crash into Neptune within the next 100 million years.
Narvi
Narvi (also known as Narfi) was discovered in 2003 by Scott Sheppard and his team at the Mauna Kea observatory. Named after a giant from Norse mythology who was the son of Loki, this small irregular moon of Saturn is about 7 kilometers in diameter. It orbits Saturn in a retrograde direction as part of the Norse group of irregular satellites, suggesting it was likely captured rather than formed alongside Saturn.
Nereid
Nereid, discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1949, is one of Neptune’s outer moons. Named after the sea nymphs of Greek mythology, it’s Neptune’s third-largest moon at about 340 kilometers in diameter. It has one of the most eccentric orbits of any moon in the solar system, varying in distance from Neptune between 1.4 million and 9.7 million kilometers. This unusual orbit suggests it may be a captured asteroid or was disrupted by Triton’s arrival in the Neptunian system.
Neso
Neso, discovered in 2002 by Matthew Holman and his team, is the outermost known moon of Neptune. Named after one of the Nereids (sea nymphs) from Greek mythology, it takes about 27 years to complete one orbit around Neptune. At its furthest point, it reaches nearly 46 million kilometers from Neptune, making it one of the most distant regular satellites of any planet in our solar system. It’s estimated to be about 60 kilometers in diameter.
Click on a letter below for a list of moons that begin with it.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Related:
For more on how moons are named check out this article.