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Triton-PIA00317_modest.jpgTriton (False Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/USGS)56 visiteCaption NASA originale:"The color was synthesized by combining HR 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, about 22% smaller than Earth's Moon, Triton is by far the largest satellite of Neptune. It is 1 of only 3 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 F); 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".
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Triton-PIA00329.jpgViews of Triton (natural colors - elab. NASA)54 visiteTriton Voyager 2 approach sequence with latitude-longitude grid superposed. The color image was reconstructed by making a computer composite of three black and white images taken through red, green and blue filters. Details on Triton's surface unfold dramatically in this sequence of approach images. South Pole near the bottom of the images at the convergence of lines of longitude. Resolution changes from about 60 Km/pixel (37 mi/pixel) in the image at upper left taken from a distance of 500.000 Km to about 5 Km/pixel (3,1 mi/pixel) for the image at lower right. Global and regional albedo features are visible in all of the images. The albedo features can be tracked in successive images and show that Triton has undergone about 3/4 of a rotation during the 4.3-day interval over which these images were obtained.
A Southern Polar Cap of bright pink, yellow and white materials covers nearly all of the Southern Hemisphere; these materials consist of Nitrogen ice with traces of other substances, including frozen CH4 and CO2. Feeble ultraviolet radiation from the Sun is thought to act on methane to cause chemical reactions to the pinkish yellowish substances. At the time of the Voyager 2 flyby (Jan. 1989) Triton's Southern Hemisphere was starting the Summer Season and the South Pole was canted toward the Sun day and night, such that the Polar Cap was sublimating under the relatively 'hot' summer Sun (surface temperature about 38 K, about -391 degree F). Numerous dark streaks on the Southern Polar Nitrogen-ice cap are thought to consist of dark dust deposited by prevailing winds in Triton's tenuous Nitrogen Atmosphere. A bluish band, seen in all of the images, nearly circumstances Triton's Equator; this band is thought to consist of fairly Nitrogen frost, perhaps deposited in the decade prior to Voyager 2's flyby.MareKromium
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Triton-PIA01536_modest.jpgTriton (through green, violet and ultraviolet filters)57 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This color photo of Neptune's large satellite Triton was obtained on Aug. 24 1989 at a range of 530.000 Km (or 330.000 miles). The resolution is about 10 Km (6,2 miles), sufficient to begin to show topographic detail. The image was made from pictures taken through the green, violet and ultraviolet filters. In this technique, regions that are highly reflective in the ultraviolet appear blue in color. In reality, there is no part of Triton that would appear blue to the eye. The bright southern hemisphere of Triton, which fills most of this frame, is generally pink in tone as is the even brighter equatorial band. The darker regions north of the equator also tend to be pink or reddish in color".
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Triton-PIA01537_modest.jpgGeologic processes on Triton (1)55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This image of Triton was taken from a distance of about 130.000 Km (80.000 miles) at 12:20 a.m. PDT Aug. 25 1989. The image was received at JPL four hours later at about 4:20 a.m. The smallest detail that can be seen is about 2,5 Km (or 1,5 miles) across. The long linear feature extending vertically across the image is probably a graben (a narrow down dropped fault block) about 35 Km (20 miles) across. The ridge in the center of the graben probably is ice that has welled up by plastic flow in the floor of the graben. The surrounding terrain is a relatively young icy surface with few impact craters".
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Triton-PIA01538_modest.jpgGeologic processes on Triton (2)55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Part of the complex geologic history of icy Triton, Neptune's largest satellite, is shown in this Voyager 2 photo, which has a resolution of 900 meters (2.700 feet) per picture element. The photo was received as part of a Triton-mapping sequence between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. (PDT). This view is about 500 Km (300 miles) across.
It encompasses 2 depressions, possibly old impact basins, that have been extensively modified by flooding, melting, faulting and collapse. Several episodes of filling and partial removal of material appear to have occurred. The rough area in the middle of the bottom depression probably marks the most recent eruption of material. Only a few impact craters dot the area, which shows the dominance of internally driven geologic processes on Triton".
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Triton-PIA01994.jpgStrange "surface features" on Triton (clouds?!?)55 visiteCaption NASA originale"Already intriguing patterns of unknown origin appear on the surface of Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, in this image returned by Voyager 2. The image was taken Aug. 22, 1989, from a distance of about 4 MKM (approx. 2.5 MMs). Voyager images show that Triton's diameter is about 2.720 Km (approx. 1.690 miles) and that it is one of the brightest objects in the Solar System, reflecting about 70% of the sunlight that strikes it. This is the Hemisphere of Triton that always faces away from Neptune. The South Pole is near the bottom of the image. Triton's rotation axis is tilted so that the latitude at the center of the disk is 55° South. Dark regions at the top of the disk extend from roughly the equator to beyond 20° North. The margin between the bright and dark regions varies with longitude around the satellite. The gray, featureless area just to the right of the center of the disk is due to a reseau (reticule mark) in the camera".
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Triton-PIA02212_modest.jpgTriton from Voyager 2 (false colors?)54 visiteCaption NASA originale:"The smallest features that can be seen in this false color image of Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, are about 47 Km across. The image, taken by Voyager 2 early in the morning of Aug. 23, 1989, is a composite of three images taken through ultraviolet, green, and violet filters. The image offers an example of the kinds of puzzles scientists face on the eve of an encounter: mottling in the bright southern hemisphere may be the result of topography, if Triton's crust is predominantly water ice, which is rigid at Triton's surface temperature. Alternatively, the mottling could be due to markings on a smooth surface, if the crust is composed of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, or methane ice, since they are soft at the same temperature". Nota: in questo frame la NASA parla chiaramente di "false colors" mentre nel successivo dice "natural colors". Ora a noi i "colors" di Tritone, nei due frames, sembrano identici.
Sono dunque entrambi "natural" o "false"? Dov'è la verità?
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Triton-PIA02213-moe-ELEI.jpgThe limb of Triton (natural colors - elab. Lunexit)55 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Triton-PIA02213_modest.jpgThe limb of Triton (natural colors - elab. NASA)55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This natural color image of the limb of Triton was taken early in the morning of Aug. 25, 1989, when the Voyager 2 spacecraft was at a distance of about 210.000 Km (128.000 miles) from the icy satellite. The largest surface features visible area about 3 miles across. The picture is a composite of images taken through the violet, green and clear filters.
The image shows a geologic boundary between a rough, pitted surface to the right and a smoother surface to the left".
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Triton-PIA02214_modest.jpgTriton from Voyager 2 (false colors)67 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This false color image of Triton is a composite of images taken through the violet, green and ultraviolet filters. The image was taken early on Aug. 25, 1989 when Voyager 2 was about 190.000 Km (118.000 miles) from Triton's surface. The smallest visible features are about 4 Km(2,5 miles) across. The image shows a geologic boundary between completely dark materials and patchy light/dark materials. A layer of pinkish material stretches across the center of the image. The pinkish layer must be thin because underlying albedo patterns show through. Several features appear to be affected by the thin atmosphere; the elongated dark streaks may represent particulate materials blown in the same direction by prevailing winds and the white material may be frost deposits".
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Triton-PIA02234.jpgTriton, from 530.000 Km!55 visiteCaption NASA:"Voyager 2 was 530.000 Km (330,000 miles) from Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, when this photo was taken, Aug. 24, 1989. With a resolution of 10 Km (about 6 miles), this is the first photo of Triton to reveal surface topography. The South Pole, continuously illuminated by sunlight at this season, is at bottom left. The boundary between the bright Southern Hemisphere and the darker Northern Hemisphere is clearly visible. Both the darker regions to the north and the very bright sub-equatorial band show a complex pattern of irregular topography that somewhat resembles "fretted terrain" on parts of Venus and Mars.
The pattern of dark and light Regions over most of the Southern Hemisphere will require HR images for interpretation. Also evident are long, straight lines that appear to be surface expressions of internal, tectonic processes. No large impact craters are visible, suggesting that the crust of Triton has been renewed relatively recently that is, within the past billion years or less".MareKromium
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Triton-PIA02234~0.jpgTriton (possible Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)56 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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