![]() ![]() 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.Īs Triton cools, the ice sheet will grow to engulf the underlying ocean. Triton's orbit is currently almost exactly circular. The exact point in time when Triton was captured by Neptune, along with the length of the time it took the orbit to become circularized are unknown. "Radiogenic heating, in comparison, heats up the shell uniformly, and thus doesn't have as disproportionate an influence as tidal dissipation does." "While the concentration of tidal dissipation near the bottom of ice shells was known for some time, we believe our work is the first to demonstrate that it indeed controls the rate of freezing and sustainability of subsurface oceans," says Saswata Hier-Majumder at the University of Maryland. This is also believed to be the general interior configuration for the ice dwarf Pluto. 70 to 80 percent rock (1), with the remainder being water ice (2) and an outer layer of methane and nitrogen ice (3). The energy loss from tides is also responsible for gradually changing Triton's orbit from an ellipse to a circle. The energy loss is converted into heat within the moon, and this heat can melt some of the icy interior and form an ocean beneath the ice shell. This type of orbit would have raised large tides on the moon, and the friction of these tides would have caused energy to be lost. Directly after capture, the moon would have been in a highly elliptical, eccentric orbit. Triton likely originated in the Kuiper Belt, beyond the orbit of Neptune, and was sent hurtling inwards until it was captured by Neptune's gravity. The early Solar System was a place of dynamic violence, with many bodies changing orbits and crashing into each other. The retrograde orbit of Triton means that it most likely did not form around Neptune. These orbits are known as prograde, and a rogue object that orbits backwards is said to be in a retrograde orbit. This disc circles the star in one direction, and thus the planets and their moons must also orbit in this same direction. Planets form from a circumstellar disc of dust and gas that surrounds a young star. Triton has a unique property among large solar system moons it has a retrograde orbit. ![]() It is possible that a liquid ocean could have formed between the rocky core and icy surface shell, and scientists have investigated if this ocean could have survived until now. As Triton's density is quite high, it is suspected that it has a large core of silicate rock. The moon's surface also had nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. A Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 offered a quick peak at the satellite, and revealed a surface composition comprised mainly of water ice. Triton was discovered in 1846 by the British astronomer William Lassell, but much about Neptune's largest moon still remains a mystery. ![]()
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