-
2139 - Neptune is
the farthest planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is cold out there. Neptune’s diameter is 3.8 times larger than
Earth’s. Its mass is 17 times
larger. Neptune takes a long time to
circle the Sun, 164.8 years. Triton is
nearly as large as our Moon , about 80%.
It has a near circular orbit around Neptune except it is orbiting
backwards to Neptune’s rotation.
-
-
-
---------------------------------- 2139 -
Neptune and its moon Triton
-
- That lucky ol Sun, got nothing to do but to
roam around heaven all day. Roaming in
circles around the Sun are 4 rocky planets and 4 giant gaseous planets. and, there are at least 4 Dwarf Planets as
well.
-
- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the 4
rocky planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune are the 4 giant gaseous planets.
Pluto, Sedna, and more to be discovered are the farthest Dwarf Planets
outside the orbit of Pluto. Ceres is the
Dwarf Planet in orbit within the
Asteroids Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
-
- This Review is about the planet Neptune and
its moon Triton.
-
-
Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun in our Solar System. at the
edge of our solar system 2.75 billion miles from Earth. It is
cold out there. Neptune’s diameter is
3.8 times larger than Earth’s. Its mass
is 17 times larger. It has almost the
same tilt on its axis as Earth does, 29.6 degrees versus 23.45 degrees. Neptune takes a long time to circle the Sun,
164.8 years.
-
-
There are at least 166 moons in the Solar System and Neptune has 13 of
them. Our Moon is the one closest to the
Sun and Neptune’s moons are the ones farthest from the Sun. 5 of its moons are smaller, less than 100
miles diameter. 5 of the moons are
irregular, outer moons that are smaller still, less than 34 miles
diameter. The 3 larger moons are
orbiting in the middle:
-
-------------------- Proteus
------------- 260 miles diameter
-
-------------------- Triton
-------------- 1,680 miles in
diameter
-
------------------- Nereid
--------------- 212 miles in
diameter.
-
-
Triton is nearly as large as our Moon , about 80%. It has a near circular orbit around Neptune
except it is orbiting backwards to Neptune’s rotation. It is obviously a captured moon about the
size of the Dwarf Planet Pluto. It is the
only large moon in our Solar System the flies around backwards.
-
-
Triton’s backward orbit is mathematically explained as the Conservation
of Angular Momentum. It starts with a
binary system, Triton and some companion, orbiting each other, coming close
enough to Neptune for Triton to be captured in its backward orbit. The orbiting companion with Triton would get
slung out in the equal and opposite direction to preserve the system’s angular
momentum.
-
-
Triton orbits Neptune is just 5.88 Earth days. It is in a synchronous orbit like our Moon
always facing the planet.
-
-
Triton has active eruptions and geysers on its surface. The cold venting gas appears to be nitrogen
mixed with a little dust that freezes
when it falls back to the surface. The source
of the heat to produce these gases is unsolved.
But, there are volcanoes and vents being created somehow below the
surface.
-
-
Triton is the coldest place any spacecraft has visited. Nitrogen geysers and water ammonia volcanoes
and the moon’s high density may indicate a large rocky core with enough
radioactivity to keep it warm. Neptune
has an axis tilt but no seasonal changes because the internal warmth keeps the
surface the same temperature, cold.
-
-
This active cyrovolcanism puts Triton is a select group of satellites in
company with Europa and Enceladus.
-
-
The Voyager spacecraft came within 3,075 miles above Neptune's north
pole. It discovered 6 new moons orbiting
Neptune. It discovered Neptune's
magnetic pole misaligned with its rotational pole. This causes extreme variations in the
magnetic field as the planet rotates.
-
-
Science is not sure what causes Neptune's magnetic field It does produce an aurora that occurs not
just at the poles but scattered across Neptune's
entire upper atmosphere.
-
-
Neptune is so cold the same cloud layers we see on Jupiter and Saturn
would be buried too deep inside the
atmosphere for us to see on Neptune.
What we do see are clouds made of flakes of methane snow. Methane can condense in the very cold upper
atmosphere. It is what causes the blue
colors. Methane gas absorbs the red
light allowing only the shorter wavelength, blue light to penetrate to the
level where the clouds exist.
-
-
The highest hill on Triton is only 3,000 feet. There is no evidence of any type of tectonic
activity. The terrain rises from oozing
water-ammonia mix. Over large areas the
depressions and fissures repeat themselves, each some 20 miles across, making
the surface look like the surface of a cantaloupe.
-
-
Inside the inner moons Neptune has rings but they have dusty regions that make them appear as partial
rings when viewed from Earth. The blue
color certainly suggests how cold it is.
You would turn blue too if you lived there.
-
-
Voyage spacecraft continues to measure magnetic fields, charged
particles, plasma density and more as it cruises to the boundaries of our solar
system. It takes 5 hours for a radio signal to reach back to Earth. It took 28
years for the spacecraft to reach there.
-
- October 22, 2018. 1360 >> 1370
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Comments appreciated and Pass it on to
whomever is interested. ----
--- Some reviews are at: -------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
-- email feedback, corrections, request for
copies or Index of all reviews
--- to:
------
jamesdetrick@comcast.net
------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
- https://plus.google.com/u/0/ -- www.facebook.com -- www.twitter.com
--------------------- Monday, October 22, 2018 -------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment