triton – Secrets of Space https://secretsofspace.com Exploring planets, stars, galaxies, astronomy, the universe and space secrets Tue, 13 Oct 2020 22:42:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 Triton, largest satellite of Neptune https://secretsofspace.com/triton-largest-satellite-neptune/ Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=303 Continue reading Triton, largest satellite of Neptune →]]> Triton is the largest satellite/moon of the planet Neptune and was discovered by British astronomer William Lassell on October 10, 1846.

Triton - NASA
JPL’s Voyager 2 mission took this picture of Triton’s southern pole

Voyager 2 took this close up image of satellite Triton during a close flyby on August 25, 1989. This composite image was constructed using about a dozen pictures and the colour correction was added to the lower resolution images.  Triton is relatively flat with some  outcrops, ridges, plateaus, icy plains and a few craters. The large south polar cap at the bottom of the image is highly reflective and slightly pink in color; it is believed that it may consist of a slowly evaporating layer of nitrogen ice deposited during the previous winter.

]]>