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PROTEUS : SATELLITE OF NEPTUNE
Image (1) : raw image. We followed the motion of Neptune and its satellite Triton at left. The stars are small lines.
Image (2) : processed image to eliminate the bright halo. We followed a first hypothesis for the motion of Proteus. Stars and Triton are circular arcs. No new body appears.
Image (3) : processed image. We followed another hypothesis for the motion of Proteus. Stars and Triton are circular arcs. A new body appears to the right of Neptune: it is Proteus.
Image (4) : processed image and reconstructed by sum of images. We distinguish Neptune, Triton and Proteus (right of Neptune). The stars are small lines.
Neptune has 8 satellites of which only 2 were discovered from Earth. Among the satellites discovered by Voyager, Proteus should be visible from Earth. The images above show how it has been observed from a ground based telescope at ESO.