Nereid
In Greek mythology, the Nereids ( Nereides) are sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and the Okeanid Doris.
Among them are:
- Thetis - Wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles, she was often considered the leader of the Nereids.
- Amphitrite - Wife of Poseidon and queen of the sea.
- Galatea
- Thoosa - mother of the Cyclops Polyphemus.
- Dione (mythology)
Written for younger readers
Nereid, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Solar System
Nereid is a moon of the planet Neptune. It is sometimes called “Neptune II”. We still do not know much about this moon. Because it has an unusual orbit, scientists think that it may have been an asteroid that was captured by Neptune’s gravity.
This is the third largest of the moons of Neptune, but it is only 340 km across
A day on Nereid is 11 and a half hours.
Nereid is only a small moon that has very low gravity.
Newtons describe how hard gravity is pulling you down. On Earth, if you weigh 51 kilograms or 112 pounds, your weight is 500 newtons. We only use newtons for some special purposes, when we are really interested in how hard we push down on something because gravity is pulling us.
Your weight in newtons would be much less on Nereid, only about 1/137 what it is on Earth. A typical adult would weigh about half a newton. But then you’ll have to add in the weight of your spacesuit as well, because that is pressing down on the surface just like you are.
This moon was named for the sea-nymphs from Greek mythology. A nymph is a nature spirit that looks like a beautiful woman.
It was discovered in 1949 by the astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper.
de:Wikijunior Sonnensystem/ Neptun/ Nereid
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Nereid” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.