Despina (moon)
Despina, also known as Neptune V, is the third-closest inner moon of Neptune. It is named after the Greek mythological character Despoina, a Goddess who was a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter.
Discovery
Despina was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 3. The discovery was announced on 2 August 1989, and mentions "10 frames taken over 5 days", implying a discovery date of sometime before July 28. The name was given on 16 September 1991.Physical characteristics
Despina's diameter is approximately. Despina is irregularly shaped and shows no sign of any geological modification. It is likely that it is a rubble pile re-accreted from fragments of Neptune's original satellites, which were disrupted by perturbations from Triton soon after that moon's capture into a very eccentric initial orbit.Compositionally, Despina appears to be similar to other small inner Neptunian satellites, with a deep 3.0 micron feature attributed to water ice or hydrated silicate minerals. It has a 0.09 albedo at 1.4 microns, 0.1 albedo at 2.0 microns, dropping to 0.03 at 3.0 microns, and increasing to 0.07 at 4.6 microns.