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Aug 6, 2020 · Before Voyager 2’s encounter with the Neptunian system, ground-based observations using infrared telescopes had detected CH 4 (methane) and N 2 (molecular nitrogen) ices on the surface of Triton (Cruikshank and Silvaggio, 1979, Astrophys J 233, 1016-1020; Cruikshank et al., 1984, Icarus 58, 293-305).
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NASA's Voyager 2―the only spacecraft to fly past Neptune and Triton―found surface temperatures of -391degrees Fahrenheit (-235 degrees Celsius). During its 1989 flyby, Voyager 2 also found Triton has active geysers, making it one of the few geologically active moons in our solar system.
Aug 26, 2019 · Despite Triton’s frigid -392o F surface temperature, Voyager’s images revealed evidence of geysers spewing dark material into the moon’s tenuous atmosphere that deposited back onto the surface. Voyager passed behind both Neptune and Triton, with instruments returning data about their atmospheres.
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- How Triton Got Its Name
Triton was discovered on Oct. 10, 1846 by British astronomer William Lassell, just 17 days after Neptune itself was discovered.
Triton is the largest of Neptune's 13 moons. It is unusual because it is the only large moon in our solar system that orbits in the opposite direction of its planet's rotation―a retrograde orbit. Scientists think Triton is a Kuiper Belt Object captured by Neptune's gravity millions of years ago. It shares many similarities with Pluto, the best know...
Triton is named after the son of Poseidon (the Greek god comparable to the Roman Neptune). Until the discovery of the second moon Nereid in 1949, Triton was commonly known as simply "the satellite of Neptune."
They concluded that Triton’s temperatures and atmospheric pressure have increased slightly since its encounter with Voyager 2, thus supporting earlier predictions of significant seasonal changes on Triton.
Feb 27, 2023 · When Voyager 2 flew past Triton 143 years after its discovery, it revealed very few craters, indicating that Triton’s surface is relatively young: perhaps 50 million years old, or possibly even less than 10 million years old.
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Jul 28, 2015 · The temperature of Triton’s upper atmosphere, at 95-100 K (ca.-175 °C/-283 °F) is higher than that at the surface, due to the influence of solar radiation and Neptune’s...
