Triton (moon) and Cryovolcano

Doom Mons, one of the most reliably identified cryovolcanoes on Saturn's moon Titan

William Lassell, the discoverer of Triton

Plumes of Enceladus, feeding Saturn's E Ring, seem to arise from the "Tiger Stripes" near the south pole.

The orbit of Triton (red) is opposite in direction and tilted −23° compared to a typical moon's orbit (green) in the plane of Neptune's equator.

The Kuiper belt (green), in the Solar System's outskirts, is where Triton is thought to have originated.

Artist's impression of Triton, showing its tenuous atmosphere just over the limb.

Clouds observed above Triton's limb by Voyager 2.

Interpretative geomorphological map of Triton

Triton's bright south polar cap above a region of cantaloupe terrain

Cantaloupe terrain viewed from 130,000 km by Voyager 2, with crosscutting Europa-like double ridges. Slidr Sulci (vertical) and Tano Sulci form the prominent "X".

Tuonela Planitia (left) and Ruach Planitia (center) are two of Triton's cryovolcanic "walled plains". The paucity of craters is evidence of extensive, relatively recent, geologic activity.

NASA illustration detailing the studies of the proposed Trident mission

Neptune (top) and Triton (bottom) three days after flyby of Voyager 2

thumb|Close up of the volcanic province of Leviathan Patera, the caldera in the center of the image. Several pit chains extend radially from the caldera to the right of the image, while the smaller of the two cryolava lakes is seen to the upper left. Just off-screen to the lower left is a fault zone aligned radially with the caldera, indicating a close connection between the tectonics and volcanology of this geologic unit.

thumb|Dark streaks across Triton's south polar cap surface, thought to be dust deposits left by eruptions of nitrogen geysers

thumb|Two large cryolava lakes on Triton, seen west of Leviathan Patera. Combined, they are nearly the size of Kraken Mare on Titan. These features are unusually crater free, indicating they are young and were recently molten.

Intricate cryovolcanic and tectonic terrains suggest a complex geological history.

- Triton (moon)

In addition, although they are not known to form volcanoes, ice geysers have been observed on Enceladus and potentially Triton.

- Cryovolcano

2 related topics

Pictured in 2012 in natural color. The thick atmosphere is orange due to a dense haze.

Titan (moon)

Largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System.

Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan in 1655.

Titan's orbit (highlighted in red) among the other large inner moons of Saturn. The moons outside its orbit are (from the outside to the inside) Iapetus and Hyperion; those inside are Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, and Mimas.

True-color image of layers of haze in Titan's atmosphere

Trace organic gases in Titan's atmosphere—HNC (left) and HC3N (right).

False-color Cassini radar mosaic of Titan's north polar region. Blue coloring indicates low radar reflectivity, caused by hydrocarbon seas, lakes and tributary networks filled with liquid ethane, methane and dissolved . About half of the large body at lower left, Kraken Mare, is shown. Ligeia Mare is at lower right.

Mosaic of three Huygens images of channel system on Titan

Near-infrared radiation from the Sun reflecting off Titan's hydrocarbon seas

Radar image of a 139 km-diameter impact crater on Titan's surface, showing a smooth floor, rugged rim, and possibly a central peak.

Ligeia Mare – SAR and clearer despeckled views.

Near-infrared image of Tortola Facula, thought to be a possible cryovolcano

False-color VIMS image of the possible cryovolcano Sotra Patera, combined with a 3D map based on radar data, showing 1000-meter-high peaks and a 1500-meter-deep crater.

Sand dunes in the Namib Desert on Earth (top), compared with dunes in Belet on Titan

Titan - three dust storms detected in 2009–2010.

Voyager 1 view of haze on Titan's limb (1980)

Cassini's Titan flyby radio signal studies (artist's concept)

The balloon proposed for the Titan Saturn System Mission (artistic rendition)

Global map of Titan – with IAU labels (August 2016).

The geologically young surface is generally smooth, with few impact craters, although mountains and several possible cryovolcanoes have been found.

It is second in terms of relative diameter of moons to a gas giant; Titan being 1/22.609 of Saturn's diameter, Triton is larger in diameter relative to Neptune at 1/18.092.

Europa's trailing hemisphere in approximate natural colour. The prominent crater in the lower right is Pwyll and the darker regions are areas where Europa's primarily water ice surface has a higher mineral content. Imaged on 7 September 1996 by Galileo spacecraft.

Europa (moon)

Smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 80 known moons of Jupiter.

Animation of the Laplace resonance of Io, Europa and Ganymede (conjunctions are highlighted by color changes)

Size comparison of Europa (lower left) with the Moon (top left) and Earth (right)

Approximate natural color (left) and enhanced color (right) Galileo view of leading hemisphere

Realistic-color Galileo mosaic of Europa's anti-Jovian hemisphere showing numerous lineae

$Enhanced-color view showing the intricate pattern of linear fractures on Europa's surface$

Europa - internal structure
(artwork; 25 May 2021)

Closeup views of Europa obtained on 26 September 1998; images clockwise from upper left show locations from north to south as indicated at lower left.

Water plumes on Europa detected by the Galileo space probe

Photo composite of suspected water plumes on Europa

Magnetic field around Europa. The red line shows a trajectory of the Galileo spacecraft during a typical flyby (E4 or E14).

A black smoker in the Atlantic Ocean. Driven by geothermal energy, this and other types of hydrothermal vents create chemical disequilibria that can provide energy sources for life.

Europa – possible effect of radiation on biosignature chemicals

Impurities in the water ice crust of Europa are presumed both to emerge from the interior as cryovolcanic events that resurface the body, and to accumulate from space as interplanetary dust.

Europa is one of the only moons in our solar system with a quantifiable atmosphere, next to Titan, Io, and Triton.