But while studying the images of Neptune taken between 2004 and 2009, Showalter noticed a bright spot that occurred periodically far outside the planet's rings.
Since the parent planet is Neptune, the name has to relate to the Greek or Roman gods of the sea, and Showalter says he already has a couple of nominees.
Showalter is a surname common in the United States, and is possibly an anglicized variant of the German Schulter ("shoulder").
A more likely source is from the German words schön wald, ("pretty forest"), referring to one who lived in such a place: a Schönwalder.