BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Triton - Captive Moon of Neptune *new*

The Solar System's big moons are weird and wonderful, and Triton is no exception. It has ice volcanoes. Its "cantaloupe terrain" is unique in the Solar System. It's unlike the other large moons. And it orbits in the wrong direction, so it didn't form near Neptune. But where did it come from?

Triton - Captive Moon of Neptune

William Lassell discovered Triton on October 10, 1846 - 168 years ago today!

This color map of Triton is a good reminder that space probes don't take pictures the way we do with a digital camera. They image in the form of collected electronic data. Depending on the sensitivity of the camera, the data may be about visible features or it may image in wavelengths invisible to our eyes.

A probe sends the data home, and using imaging software, someone turns into an image that makes sense to us. This image of Triton was made using data collected by Voyager 2 back in the eighties. Imaging software and techniques have improved a lot since then, so better use can be made of the data.