Sao

Moon of NeptuneNamed minor body or small moon

A captured moon of Neptune about 44 km across, one orbit every 8.0 years.

Where it is right now

Sao is in Pisces, 29.2 AU away.

Computed for 2 August 2026, 17:00 UTC, and recomputed at least hourly. This page is cached, so treat the line above as accurate to the hour rather than to the second. The map shows the live position.

Position from a Kepler propagation of the published elements below, accurate to about an arcminute.

Facts

Every line carries the source it came from.

Mean radius: 22 kmSource: IAU/NASA planetary satellite fact sheets
Orbits: Neptune, 22,239,900 km out on averageSource: NASA/JPL Planetary Satellite Mean Elements
Orbital period: 8.0 yearsSource: NASA/JPL Planetary Satellite Mean Elements
Orbit shape: eccentricity 0.2960, inclined 50.20 degrees to the eclipticSource: NASA/JPL Planetary Satellite Mean Elements
Discovered: 2002 by T. Grav, M. Holman, J. Kavelaars, W. Fraser, D. MilisavljevicSource: NASA/JPL Planetary Satellite Discovery Circumstances

Physical size

Mean radius: 22.0 km
Diameter: 44 km across

Orbit

Elements are relative to Neptune.

Average distance from Neptune: 22.24 million km
Closest and furthest: 15.66 million km to 28.82 million km
Eccentricity: 0.2960, noticeably elliptical
Inclination to Neptune's reference plane: 50.20 degrees
Orbital period: 8.0 years (2,919 days)
Longitude of ascending node: 41.80 degrees
Argument of periapsis: 93.50 degrees
Mean anomaly at J2000.0: 357.64 degrees

Family

Orbits Neptune.

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Catalog id sao. 3,172 objects on the map, of which 171 are hand-authored with sourced facts.

Sao