**Hello dear friends on Steemit! A very Good Morning to you all. Hope the fresh Sun rise may kiss you all with happiness and luck. After reading the rules of **Steemit** and after doing the research of some good writer’s way of writing, I am bringing my first post on **TRITON – The Detailed Story of Neptune’s Weird Moon**. Please excuse me if I miss something. Hope you people will read my article and provide your valuable suggestions and thoughts by commenting below.** **So, without any further delay let us jump into my article!!** ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ [**Triton**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)) a **moon** of [**Neptune**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune) that seems to be a little bit rebellious and **orbits** against the flow of every other **moon** in the system. You're going to discover a few things about this **moon** and we're going to talk about its future and it's past. https://img00.deviantart.net/6fc4/i/2014/107/9/3/triton_plains_by_justv23-d7ev6qt.jpg [**SOURCE**](https://justv23.deviantart.com/art/Triton-Plains-448232933) So, this is actually the largest [**natural satellite**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_satellite) of **Neptune** that's been around here for **a few billion years** and it was officially discovered back in **1846** by an [**astronomer**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomer) **William La Salle**. Now it's actually the only **large moon** in our [**solar system**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System) that **orbits** in the opposite direction of everything else. So, in an **orbit system** everything including the **Neptune** itself moves this way. [**Triton**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)) on the other hands moves the other way and there is a pretty good explanation about it and it's actually a relatively simple explanation. The explanation is that it's very likely that **Triton** is actually not from here it probably arrived here from the [**Kuiper belt**](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/overview/) and was very likely an object that we would technically refer to as a [**dwarf planet**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet). So, if you actually compare **Triton** to [**Pluto**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto) which I'll do in the second by placing **Pluto** right next to **Triton**. https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/triton.jpg [**SOURCE**](https://www.universetoday.com/62145/40-years-of-summer-on-triton/) You'll notice that not only are they actually pretty much the same in terms of size their composition and their [**density**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density) is actually very similar as well. The **density** of **Pluto** is **1.87** and here in **Triton** it's **2.06**. Their actual structure is very similar as well and for the most part **Pluto** and **Triton** are actually kind of **twins** or not **twins**, but they're very very similar. They have a lot of **ice**, **water/ ice** up to about **30%** of their entire structures actually **water** and **ice**. They have relatively large core and they also have quite a lot of [**nitrogen**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen) on the **surface** and their [**coloration**](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coloration). Even though it doesn't look like that in this game, it's actually similar too. **Triton** also has these **brown spots** that are actually formed by something known as **Solwings** which are essentially different meeting [**molecules**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule) that were converted into these **brown molecules** by the effects of the **Sun**. So, basically **Triton** is an outsider. It came into the system from the [**Kuiper belt**](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/overview/) and was captured by **Neptune**. But the interesting story about it is that we don't really exactly know how it was captured. It's either collided with another **moon** or more likely used to be actually a part of a **binary system**. It's very likely that **Triton** had an object that **orbited** around and when it arrived into **Neptune system**, the other object that kicked out and because of the interaction of that object **Triton** lost a lot of [**velocity**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocity) and it's about to **crash** into an action and basically it's sort of kind of got captured by **Neptune**. https://img00.deviantart.net/4d0b/i/2012/344/6/e/triton_s_past_by_justv23-d5nncds.jpg [**SOURCE**](https://justv23.deviantart.com/art/Triton-s-past-342051184) Now let's actually go back here for a second so the other evidence that **Triton** is not from here is the fact that what it arrives into the **system** it is very likely a kicked out. If you remember [**Jupiter**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter) has like **69**. Even [**Uranus**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus) has a lot more because probably **Triton** sort of kicked most of them out when it arrived into the **system** with its relatively high [**gravitation**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity) **Direction**. Now overall **Triton** is actually very **large moon**. When the **moon** comes in terms of size at least, it's pretty much out there with the big ones. It's not as big as [**Titan**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)) and it's not as big as our own **moon**. But it's almost as big as the **moons** of **Jupiter** and it's definitely bigger than other **moons** in our **solar system** making it something like **seventh largest moon** in the **solar system**. http://www.thetimenow.com/img/astronomy/all/solarsystemwiki-Tidal-forces-also-power-the-volcanic-activity-on-Triton-though-it-spews-nitrogen-gases-instead-of-molten-rock-like-Jupiters-Io.-300x233.jpg [**SOURCE**](http://www.thetimenow.com/astronomy/triton.php) So, it is pretty **large** and it's pretty [**massive**](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/massive) as well its [**radius**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radius) is about **1300 Km** which is actually very large and its [**mass**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass) is **2 times 10 to the power 22 Kilograms** which by itself is quite impressive because if I actually compare it to our own **moon** which is a **large moon** to replace our own **moon**. Here you'll notice that it's **mass** is only about **3 times** less than our own **moon** and it sizes only may be a little bit smaller by about **400 Km** in **radius** but our own **moon** is actually more **dense**. So, that's why it's more **massive** as well. There is one unusual feature about **Triton** to have it's very [**reflective**](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/reflective). Its [**albedo**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo) is almost **90 percent** basically the **reflects ninety percent** of the **light** and it gets which obviously makes it **very cold** in the **surface** but also it's just unusual for an object like this. http://www.thetimenow.com/img/astronomy/all/solarsystemwiki-Kuiper-Belt-300x225.jpg [**SOURCE**](http://www.thetimenow.com/astronomy/triton.php) But it is very common for things like **dwarf planets** which also once again suggest that this is not actually a **moon** but probably **captured** or **flooded** and because it moves against the flow there's several things that may have happened what it was just captured. First of all, it probably received a lot of [**tidal heating**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_heating) it very likely was ridiculously **hot** here. So, the **temperatures** might have been well not on the outside but on the inside might have been enough for it to start smoking actually and basically probably [**evaporate**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporation) a lot of stuff because it was so **hot** on the inside and that reflected on the outside by creating all sorts of [**volcanoes**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano). Now [**cryovolcanism**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryovolcano) here is very common basically does have **volcanoes** and it's actually one of the few objects in our **solar system** that has very very new very refreshed sort of surface that's only about maximum **50 million years old**. In other words, all the surface here gets renewed through all kinds of thick [**tectonic**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectonics) activity and [**cryovolcanism**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryovolcano). So, because of this relatively young surface, we know that there's not enough impact [**craters**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater) here and in comparison to other **moons** it barely has **200 craters** which is very unusually low for a **moon of its age**. http://aasnova.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/fig1-3-702x336.jpg [**SOURCE**](http://aasnova.org/2017/11/06/did-triton-destroy-neptunes-first-moons/) So, this suggests that this is one of the few objects similar to things like [**Io**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_(moon)) things like [**Enceladus**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus) that to have **cryovolcanism** and active replenishment of the surface and one thing about the **Triton** is that like many other **moons** it's tightly locked and this obviously took a while to get so meaning it's always pointed the same surface toward **Neptune**. But because it's tightly locked because it's moving against the flow it's actually slowly approaching **Neptune**. it's moving closer and closer to **Neptune** and within the next **three point five billion years** it's actually going to reach the area known as the [**Roche limit**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit) which also means that what's going to happen to beautiful **Triton** is that it's going to either collide with **Neptune**. But more likely it's actually going to moving it closer and closer and closer. So, this is like almost **four billion years** in the future and there it's going to fall apart. It's going to actually create a very **large ring** around **Neptune** very similar to the **ring** around [**Saturn**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn) and probably even bigger than that. It's very likely it's going to be the most biggest **ring** in our **solar system** and this is **3.5 billion years** after today. Now it's not going to be very big in this case because our **Triton** is falling apart a little bit too fast. but it is going to be a very **massive ring**. http://www.davidreneke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Neptune.jpg [**SOURCE**](http://www.davidreneke.com/voyager-map-details-neptunes-strange-moon-triton/) So. there is sort of the face of new **Neptune four billion years** in the future is going to have a **very large ring** system basically made up of leftover **Triton** stuff. Now there's a few other things we've actually discovered by **Triton** and that's despite the fact that only [**Voyager 2**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2) got to actually take pictures of **Triton** and since then we haven't really been back to the **Neptune system** and we've only observed it with **telescopes** like [**Hubble**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope). But that's just not enough for us to learn about it. So, we know that this system also has a nut system, but this one actually has a little bit of [**atmosphere**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere) ! not a lot! but just a little bit and the **atmosphere** is composed of **nitrogen** very similar to the **atmosphere** of **Pluto** and it's about **170 thousandth** the **pressure** of **Earth's atmosphere**. So, basically here it's not really you wouldn't even call it **atmosphere**. But it is there so we have to call that **atmosphere** and it's made up of **nitrogen** that usually is present on a surface, but it [**sublimates**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation) and it's created by various **volcanoes**. So it's released into the outer surface here and then creates a kind of a thin layer around the **moon** and once in a while it actually does increase in **pressure** because sometimes **Triton** points with its [**poles**](http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/environment/geography/poles-and-directions) directly toward the **Sun** and when that happens it gets seasons and during those seasons **volcanoes** are more active and produce even more [**hydrogen**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen) and it actually gets to point with both **poles** toward the **Sun**. So, it's actually quite a lot of extreme seasonal changes here and they occur depending on where **Triton** is in its **orbit** around **Neptune**. So, the **seasonal changes** on this **moon** are actually quite dramatic. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/hubble_components_diagram.png?itok=FDj9Q4RX [**SOURCE**](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/spacecraft/index.html) One of the last things I wanted to talk about is that there's actually quite a lot of unusual surface features on **Triton** and a lot of them would still can't really explain it for example there is actually something called [**cantaloupe**]() [**terrain**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrain) which kind of looks like basically a imbalanced surface and it's mostly **dirty water ice** that seems to only exist on **Triton** and we don't really know how it was formed but we think it's probably because of some sort of a **density** variation or underneath it. But we haven't seen it anywhere else in our **solar system**. So, **Triton** does have quite a lot of mysteries for us to discover. But the most important thing about right now is that it is actually a very good way for us to study not only how various **dwarf planets** interact with various **gas giants**. But also to study those **dwarf planets** and try to understand their composition because **Triton** was probably born on in [**Kuiper's belt**](https://www.nasa.gov/subject/3151/kuiper-belt/), far away from the **Sun** and it probably has **water** that was later brought to our own planet **Earth**. So, the water on **Triton** is very similar to **water** on **Earth** and this kind of might give us an idea where water came from and how it actually form on our planet because we still don't really know what and how brought **water** to **Earth**. Thank you so much for reading my post. Hope you like it! https://youtu.be/KCc1hqGSHq0 [**SOURCE**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCc1hqGSHq0) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ **REFERENCES :** ![maxresdefault.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRnt3BGRtJ3thzQBYKmiWGXKCKYCP6GUiNH7wuipgeEWu/maxresdefault.jpg) * [**REF 1**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)) * [**REF 2**](https://www.nasa.gov/subject/3151/kuiper-belt/) * [**REF 3**](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/spacecraft/index.html) * [**REF 4**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR9uphgMZ8U) * [**REF 5**](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/overview/) * [**REF 6**](https://solarstory.net/satellites/triton) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ **If only and only if you like my article, please follow me to read more such upcoming article at : @star-vc** https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://image.ibb.co/gSXHqw/DQm_Rmz_Khm_Segf2bvy6_Vk_As_Dt_MLdnm1p_RKNN6u_Kj_JBGq1hd6.gif