
New James Webb Space Telescope data indicate that Neptune’s third-largest moon, Nereid, may be the lone intact survivor of an ancient collision that destroyed Neptune’s original satellite system. Its size, orbit, and surface spectra suggest it did not re-form from debris but survived the disruptive event, challenging previous ideas about how Neptune’s moons formed. This result, alongside other recent findings about distant small bodies, highlights unexpected complexity in the outer solar system.
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