Triton is Neptune's largest moon and the only large moon in the solar system that orbits in the opposite direction of its planet's rotation, a retrograde orbit that points to it being a captured Kuiper Belt object; it is also one of the few moons known to be volcanically active today.
Facts
Diameter (km) Discovery Year Connections
Associated With
Roche Limit, Concepts Triton is predicted to cross Neptune Roche limit in the far future
Orbits
Source NASA Solar System Exploration
Sources
1. NASA Solar System Exploration
National Aeronautics and Space Administrationscience.nasa.gov, Neptune Moons: Triton
Triton, Io and Venus are the only bodies in the solar system besides Earth that are known to be volcanically active at the present time.
science.nasa.gov, Neptune Moons overview
English merchant and astronomer William Lassell discovered the first and largest moon, Triton, on Oct. 10, 1846, just 17 days after a Berlin observatory discovered Neptune.
Entity description, triton catalogue classification
Triton is Neptune's largest moon and the only large moon in the solar system that orbits in the opposite direction of its planet's rotation, a retrograde orbit that points to it being a captured Kuiper Belt object; it is also one of the few moons known to be volcanically active today.
View the Source Wikipedia: Triton (moon)
In Group: Moons of Neptune, Lead sentenceQuote, In Group: Moons of Neptune, Lead sentence
It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be rounded under its own gravity and hosts a thin, hazy atmosphere.
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