Flying Past Neptunes Moon Triton
Explanation:
What would it look like to fly past Triton, the largest moon of planet Neptune?
Only one spacecraft has ever done this -- and now, for the first time, images of
this dramatic encounter have been
gathered
into a
movie.
On 1989 August 25, the Voyager 2 spacecraft shot through the Neptune system with
cameras blazing.
Triton is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon but has
ice volcanoes
and a surface rich in
frozen nitrogen.
The first sequence in
the video
shows Voyager's approach to
Triton, which, despite its
unusual green tint, appears in approximately true color.
The
mysterious terrain seen under the spacecraft soon changed from light to dark,
with the
terminator of night soon crossing underneath.
After closest approach,
Voyager pivoted
to see the departing moon, now visible as a diminishing
crescent.
Next July, assuming all goes well, the robotic
New Horizons
spacecraft will make a similar flight past
Pluto, an orb of similar size to Triton.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
