Neptune’s smallest moon may be a chip off another moon

The tiny object has been given the official name Hippocamp

Neptune, Proteus and Hippocamp

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK  A massive collision that left Neptune’s second largest moon, Proteus (as seen in the background of this illustration) with a huge crater may have spawned its smallest moon, Hippocamp (foreground).

NASA, ESA, and J. Olmsted/STScI

Neptune’s smallest moon may be a chunk of a neighboring moon that was knocked off by a comet.