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What is the origin of Triton?
Triton is named after the Greek sea god Triton (Τρίτων), the son of Poseidon (the Greek god corresponding to the Roman Neptune). Until the discovery of the second moon Nereid in 1949, Triton was commonly referred to as “the satellite of Neptune”.
How was Triton made?
Triton consists of a crust of frozen nitrogen over an icy mantle believed to cover a core of rock and metal. Triton has a density about twice that of water. This is a higher density than that measured for almost any other satellite of an outer planet.
When was Triton formed?
Oct. 10, 1846
Triton was found on Oct. 10, 1846, just 17 days after French astronomer Alexis Bouvard discovered Neptune. According to NASA, Triton was known simply as “the satellite of Neptune” until 1949, when a second moon (Nereid) was found.
How did Neptune capture Triton?
Triton is unique among all the large moons in the solar system because it orbits Neptune in a direction opposite to the planet’s rotation (a “retrograde” orbit). Gravitational interactions during a close approach to Neptune then pulled Triton away from its binary companion to become a satellite of Neptune.
Where does Triton come from in the Solar System?
The Kuiper belt (green), in the Solar System’s outskirts, is where Triton is thought to have originated. Moons in retrograde orbits cannot form in the same region of the solar nebula as the planets they orbit, so Triton must have been captured from elsewhere.
Who was the first person to discover Triton?
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.
How did the moon Triton get its name?
Triton was named after a merman in Greek mythology who was the son of the sea god Poseidon (the Roman god Neptune). moons of Neptune: TritonImage of Triton, Neptune’s largest satellite, captured by a camera aboard Voyager 2, 1989.NASA/JPL.
How big is the orbit of the Triton?
It is located at a distance of 4338 million kilometers from Earth. It has a radius of 1353 km. The orbital geometry of Triton indicates that the moon was formed elsewhere in the outer Solar System and gravitationally captured by Neptune later. The orbit distance is 354,759 km and an orbital period of 5 days and 21 h.