Image:Triton moon mosaic Voyager 2 (large).jpg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikimedia Commons logo This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is shown below.
Commons is attempting to create a freely licensed media file repository. You can help.
  • Global Color Mosaic of Triton, taken by Voyager 2 in 1989
  • original NASA caption: Global color mosaic of Triton, taken in 1989 by Voyager 2 during its flyby of the Neptune system. Color was synthesized by combining high-resolution images taken through orange, violet, and ultraviolet filters; these images were displayed as red, green, and blue images and combined to create this color version. With a radius of 1,350 km (839 mi), about 22% smaller than Earth's moon, Triton is by far the largest satellite of Neptune. It is one of only three objects in the Solar System known to have a nitrogen-dominated atmosphere (the others are Earth and Saturn's giant moon, Titan). Triton has the coldest surface known anywhere in the Solar System (38 K, about -391 degrees Fahrenheit); it is so cold that most of Triton's nitrogen is condensed as frost, making it the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a surface made mainly of nitrogen ice. The pinkish deposits constitute a vast south polar cap believed to contain methane ice, which would have reacted under sunlight to form pink or red compounds. The dark streaks overlying these pink ices are believed to be an icy and perhaps carbonaceous dust deposited from huge geyser-like plumes, some of which were found to be active during the Voyager 2 flyby. The bluish-green band visible in this image extends all the way around Triton near the equator; it may consist of relatively fresh nitrogen frost deposits. The greenish areas includes what is called the cantaloupe terrain, whose origin is unknown, and a set of "cryovolcanic" landscapes apparently produced by icy-cold liquids (now frozen) erupted from Triton's interior.


Public domain This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy).

Warnings:

  • Use of NASA logos (which include the current "meatball" logo, the old "worm" logo, and the seal) is restricted.
  • Materials from the Hubble Space Telescope may be copyrighted if they do not explicitly come from the STScI. [1]
  • All materials created by the SOHO probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2]
  • Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3]

The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed):