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Triton's atmosphere supports clouds of nitrogen ice crystals and a layer of organic atmospheric haze. Triton was the first Neptunian moon to be discovered, on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer William Lassell. The 1989 flyby of Triton by the Voyager 2 spacecraft remains the only up-close visit to the moon as of 2025.
Triton follows a retrograde and quasi-circular orbit, and is thought to be a gravitationally captured satellite. It was the second moon in the Solar System that was discovered to have a substantial atmosphere, which is primarily nitrogen with small amounts of methane and carbon monoxide. [26] The pressure on Triton's surface is about 14 μbar. [26]
In 1846, Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle, using his self-built instrument. [8] [9] [10] In 1848, he independently co-discovered Hyperion, a moon of Saturn. [9] [11] In 1851 he discovered Ariel and Umbriel, two moons of Uranus.
The bright blue diffraction star is Triton, Neptune's largest moon. Neptune has 16 known moons. [154] Triton is the largest Neptunian moon, accounting for more than 99.5% of the mass in orbit around Neptune, [i] and is the only one massive enough to be spheroidal. Triton was discovered by William Lassell just 17 days after the discovery of ...
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
All four, along with Titan, Triton, and Earth's Moon, are larger than any of the Solar System's dwarf planets. The largest, Ganymede, is the largest moon in the Solar System and surpasses the planet Mercury in size (though not mass). Callisto is only slightly smaller than Mercury in size; the smaller ones, Io and Europa, are about the size of ...
Triton was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite according to Hesiod's Theogony. [1] [2] He was the ruler (possessor) of the depths of the sea, [1] who is either "dreadful" or "mighty" (δεινός) according to the epithet given him by Hesiod. [1] [3] Triton dwelt with his parents in underwater golden palaces. [1]
Eris was first imaged in 2003, and is the most massive object discovered in the Solar System since Neptune's moon Triton in 1846. 2005 – M. Brown, C. Trujillo, and D. Rabinowitz discover another notable KBO, Makemake. [231]