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Triton, The lost dwarf planet
Highlights on Investigation
Overview of Voyager 1989
How To Investigate it?
Discovered in 1846 by the British astronomer William Lassell
Triton’s orbit is currently almost exactly circular. Investigating how the shape of the orbit evolved through time is important to determine the level of tidal heating that occurred, and thus if the subsurface ocean could still exist today.
Triton likely originated in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune
A flyby by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989
- Tidal dissipation and thus the crystallization of the subsurface ocean.
- Radiogenic heating contributes several times more heat to Triton’s interior than tidal heating
- The map, produced by Paul Schenk, a scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston
- New Horizons' Pluto encounter on July 14, 2015
Living In Triton
- 1 Earth day= 6 days on Triton
- Neptune would appear about 10 times larger in the sky of Triton than the moon looks in the sky of Earth.
- There is no weather
- The average surface temperature on Triton is minus 391 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 235 degrees Celsius
The composition
Theorized to be made of ice throughout its interior except for a core of rocky material at the center. A small layer of water could provide an environment for life.
Why Triton?
One of the only geologically active moons in our solar system.
Has a thin atmosphere containing nitrogen.
“Breathable air is basically 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen, so the nitrogen-rich atmosphere on Triton, can’t be that bad.”
Very cold. The sun would not harm us with its UV rays
Possibility of Life in Triton
Triton
A more remote possibility is that Triton could host silicon-based life, assuming that silicon can actually be used as a foundation for life instead of carbon
Triton, named after the son of Greek God Poseidon, has a very strange origin that makes it a very unique moon.
Silanes, which are structural analogues of hydrocarbons, could be used as a building block for life under the right conditions
Scientist think Triton was captured from the belt by Neptune's gravity billion of years ago.
Its surface is made up of smooth volcanic plains formed by icy “lava” flows,
The ammonia that is likely present in Triton's subsurface ocean might act to lower the freezing point of water, thus making it more suitable for life.
Why Triton?
As Triton’s density is quite high, it is suspected that the moon has a large core of silicate rock. It is possible that a liquid ocean formed between the rocky core and icy surface shell.