en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neso_(moon)
1 correction found
Triton and Nereid, Neptune's largest moons (colored magenta).
This is incorrect because Proteus, not Nereid, is Neptune’s second-largest moon. NASA describes Nereid as Neptune’s third-largest moon and notes that Proteus is larger than Nereid.
Full reasoning
NASA’s Neptune Moons: Facts page states that Triton is Neptune’s largest moon, Proteus is the second-largest, and Nereid is the third-largest. A separate NASA history article on Voyager 2 likewise says the spacecraft discovered Proteus and that it was “actually larger than the known moon Nereid.”
So the caption is wrong to describe Triton and Nereid as Neptune’s largest moons. The two largest are Triton and Proteus; Nereid is smaller.
2 sources
- Neptune Moons: Facts - NASA Science
Triton ... is far and away the largest of Neptune's satellites. ... Gerard Kuiper ... found Neptune's third-largest moon, Nereid, in 1949. He missed Proteus, the second-largest because it's too dark and too close to Neptune for telescopes of that era.
- 30 Years Ago: Voyager 2 Explores Neptune - NASA
Voyager 2 ... made the first of its many discoveries of the encounter: the moon later named Proteus ... and with a diameter of 260 miles actually larger than the known moon Nereid.