GALATEA

(Forth-closest inner moon of Neptune)

Galatea is the fourth-closest inner natural satellite of Neptune. Galatea is irregularly shaped
and shows no sign of any geological modification. It is likely that it is a rubble pile re-
accreted from fragments of Neptune's original satellites, which were smashed up by
perturbations from Triton soon after that moon's capture into a very eccentric initial orbit.
Galatea's orbit lies below Neptune's synchronous orbit radius, so it is slowly spiralling
inward due to tidal deceleration and may eventually impact the planet or break up into a
new planetary ring system upon passing its Roche limit due to tidal stretching.
Galatea appears to be a shepherd moon for the Adams ring that is 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
outside its orbit. Resonances with Galatea in the ratio 42:43 is also considered the most
likely mechanism for confining the unique ring arcs that exist in this ring. Galatea's mass has
been estimated based on the radial perturbations it induces on the ring.