Why is triton geologically active

VIPER is the first resource-mapping mission on the surface of another celestial body. Full Moon Guide: September - October For the first time, astronomers have uncovered evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede. A technique for scanning Mars rocks for microscopic fossils is also being developed to hunt for microbes on Enceladus, Titan, and Europa.

Phobos orbits through a stream of charged atoms and molecules that flow off the atmosphere of Mars, new research shows. Astronomers using Hubble watched a mysterious dark vortex on Neptune abruptly steer away from a likely death on the giant blue planet.

Dark Storm on Neptune Reverses Direction. Plumes of water vapor that may be venting into space from Jupiter's moon Europa could come from within the icy crust itself, according to new research. New experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just a cool visual. Made of a pair of two-wheeled vehicles, DuAxel is designed to descend craters and near-vertical cliffs on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

In addition to being the seventh-largest moon in the Solar System, it is also more massive than all known moons in the Solar System smaller than itself combined. With no axial tilt and an eccentricity of virtually zero, the moon orbits Neptune at a distance of , km , miles. At this distance, Triton is the farthest satellite of Neptune, and orbits the planet every 5. Unlike other moons of its size, Triton has a retrograde orbit around its host planet.

However, these moons are all much more distant from their primaries, and are rather small in comparison. Triton also has a synchronous orbit with Neptune, which means it keeps one face aimed towards the planet at all times. Scientists estimate that in approximately 3. Triton has a radius, density 2.

Another theory has it that Triton was once a dwarf planet with a companion. In this scenario, Neptune captured Triton and flung its companion away when the giant gas moved further out into the solar system, billions of years ago.

Trace amounts of methane and carbon monoxide ice are believed to exist there as well, as are small amounts of ammonia in the form of ammonia dihydrate in the lithosphere. The surface is also quite young, which is an indication of the possible existence of an interior ocean and geological activity. Nov 10, , pm EST. Nov 9, , pm EST. Nov 9, , am EST. Edit Story.

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Check out my website or some of my other work here. But Triton is different. It is the seventh largest moon in the Solar System, bigger even than Pluto. So explaining its origin is not as simple as saying it must be a rock that flew too close.

It turns out that Triton is an icy body, probably with a metallic core. And it has a thin nitrogen atmosphere. It is also geologically active. This surface is also relatively smooth, meaning the craters must be have been covered relatively recently. Their plan is to send a spacecraft to fly past Neptune, take a good look at Triton, and then fly on to find a Kuiper Belt object to study.