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Nov 30, 2018 · But which world is the true King of the Kuiper belt, the innermost of the trans-Neptunian objects? It's not Pluto, the one with the greatest radius, nor Eris, the one with the greatest...
- Ethan Siegel
- Discovery
- Overview
- 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."
Triton is the largest of Neptune’s 14 known moons. The icy world is likely a Kuiper Belt Object that was captured by Neptune’s gravity. Triton may have a liquid water ocean beneath its surface, but a new mission is needed to investigate further. It’s cold and dim in the Solar System’s suburbs.
Jun 6, 2011 · One of Voyager 2’s most astounding discoveries were nitrogen geysers erupting from Triton’s surface. This surface is also relatively smooth, meaning the craters must be have been covered...
May 21, 2024 · Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune, with the distinction of having the coldest known surface in the solar system, at about 34.5 K. It is widely thought that Triton is a captured Kuiper belt object. The Kuiper belt is a second asteroid belt out beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto and Eris are examples of Kuiper belt objects.
Nov 11, 2024 · Kuiper belt, flat ring of icy small bodies that revolve around the Sun beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. It comprises hundreds of millions of objects whose orbits lie close to the plane of the solar system. The Kuiper belt is thought to be the source of most of the observed short-period comets.
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Is Triton a Kuiper belt object?
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Aug 10, 2024 · What is a Kuiper belt? Kuiper belt is a circumstellar disc in the outer solar system, extending from Neptune’s orbit at 30 astronomical units to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. Kuiper belt contains numerous small, icy bodies and dwarf planets, including Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake.
