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Atmosphere of Triton
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Atmosphere of Triton
The atmosphere of Triton is the layer of gases surrounding Triton. Like the atmospheres of Titan and Pluto, Triton's atmosphere is composed more than 95% of nitrogen, with smaller amounts of methane and carbon monoxide. It hosts a layer of organic haze extending up to 30 kilometers above its surface and a deck of thin bright clouds at about 4 kilometers in altitude. Due to Triton's low gravity, its atmosphere is loosely bound, extending over 800 kilometers from its surface.
Triton, along with Saturn's moon Titan, is one of only two moons in the Solar System known to have significant, global atmospheres. The surface pressure is only 14 microbars (1.4 Pa or 0.0105mmHg), 1⁄70000 of the surface pressure on Earth. Similar to the atmosphere of Pluto, Triton's atmosphere is sensitive to seasonal changes; observations obtained in 1998 showed an increase in temperature, increasing the atmosphere's density.
Nitrogen is the main gas in Triton's atmosphere. The two other known components are methane and carbon monoxide, whose abundances are a few hundredths of a percent of that of the nitrogen. Carbon monoxide, which was first detected in 2010 by the ground-based observations, is slightly more abundant than methane. The abundance of methane relative to nitrogen increased by four to five times since 1986 due to the seasonal warming observed on Triton, which passed its southern-hemisphere solstice in 2001. Compositionally, Triton's atmosphere strongly resembles that of Pluto's atmosphere, being almost entirely nitrogen with minor contributions from other gasses.
Other possible components of the Triton's atmosphere include argon and neon. Because they were not detected in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum of Triton obtained by Voyager 2 in 1989, their abundances are unlikely to exceed a few percent. In addition to the gases mentioned above, the upper atmosphere contains significant amounts of both molecular and atomic hydrogen, which is produced by the photolysis of methane. This hydrogen quickly escapes into the space serving as a source of plasma in the magnetosphere of Neptune.
Triton's atmosphere interacts with Neptune through Neptune's magnetosphere, with interactions complicated by Triton's retrograde orbit and Neptune's asymmetric magnetosphere. As neutral hydrogen and nitrogen escape from Triton's atmosphere, they form a large neutral cloud in orbit around Neptune called the Triton torus. The modelled rate of escape of hydrogen, both atomic and molecular, is about 7×1025 particles per second; nitrogen escape rates are inferred to be 2–3 times lower. The density of the neutral hydrogen torus is comparable, if not greater than that of the neutral hydrogen torus maintained by Titan. The ionization of neutral particles in the Triton torus and the escape of ions from Triton's atmosphere may act as the dominant source of plasma within Neptune's magnetosphere.
Triton's atmosphere is well structured and global. The atmosphere extends up to 870 kilometers above the surface, where the exobase is located, and had a surface pressure of about 14 microbars as of 1989. This is only 1/70,000th of the surface pressure on Earth. The surface temperature was at least 35.6 K (−237.6 °C) because Triton's nitrogen ice is in the warmer, hexagonal crystalline state, and the phase transition between hexagonal and cubic nitrogen ice occurs at that temperature. An upper limit in the low 40s (K) can be set from vapor pressure equilibrium with nitrogen gas in Triton's atmosphere. The most likely temperature was 38±1 K as of 1989. In the 1990s it probably increased by about 1 K due to the general global warming as Triton approached the peak of its southern hemisphere summer (see below).
Convection near Triton's surface heated by the Sun creates a troposphere (a "weather region") rising to an altitude of about 8 km. In it temperature decreases with height reaching a minimum of about 36 K at the tropopause. There is no stratosphere, defined as a layer where heating from the warmer troposphere and thermosphere is balanced by radiative cooling. Higher regions include the thermosphere (8–850 km) and exosphere (above 850 km). In the thermosphere the temperature rises reaching a constant value of about 95 K above 300 km. The upper atmosphere continuously leaks into outer space due to the weak gravity of Triton. The loss rate is about 1×1025 nitrogen molecules per second, equivalent to about 0.3 kg/s.
Nitrogen ice particles form clouds in the troposphere a few kilometers above the surface of Triton. Above them a haze is present extending up to 30 km from the surface. It is believed to be composed largely of hydrocarbons and nitriles created by the action of the Sun's and stellar ultraviolet light on methane.
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Atmosphere of Triton
The atmosphere of Triton is the layer of gases surrounding Triton. Like the atmospheres of Titan and Pluto, Triton's atmosphere is composed more than 95% of nitrogen, with smaller amounts of methane and carbon monoxide. It hosts a layer of organic haze extending up to 30 kilometers above its surface and a deck of thin bright clouds at about 4 kilometers in altitude. Due to Triton's low gravity, its atmosphere is loosely bound, extending over 800 kilometers from its surface.
Triton, along with Saturn's moon Titan, is one of only two moons in the Solar System known to have significant, global atmospheres. The surface pressure is only 14 microbars (1.4 Pa or 0.0105mmHg), 1⁄70000 of the surface pressure on Earth. Similar to the atmosphere of Pluto, Triton's atmosphere is sensitive to seasonal changes; observations obtained in 1998 showed an increase in temperature, increasing the atmosphere's density.
Nitrogen is the main gas in Triton's atmosphere. The two other known components are methane and carbon monoxide, whose abundances are a few hundredths of a percent of that of the nitrogen. Carbon monoxide, which was first detected in 2010 by the ground-based observations, is slightly more abundant than methane. The abundance of methane relative to nitrogen increased by four to five times since 1986 due to the seasonal warming observed on Triton, which passed its southern-hemisphere solstice in 2001. Compositionally, Triton's atmosphere strongly resembles that of Pluto's atmosphere, being almost entirely nitrogen with minor contributions from other gasses.
Other possible components of the Triton's atmosphere include argon and neon. Because they were not detected in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum of Triton obtained by Voyager 2 in 1989, their abundances are unlikely to exceed a few percent. In addition to the gases mentioned above, the upper atmosphere contains significant amounts of both molecular and atomic hydrogen, which is produced by the photolysis of methane. This hydrogen quickly escapes into the space serving as a source of plasma in the magnetosphere of Neptune.
Triton's atmosphere interacts with Neptune through Neptune's magnetosphere, with interactions complicated by Triton's retrograde orbit and Neptune's asymmetric magnetosphere. As neutral hydrogen and nitrogen escape from Triton's atmosphere, they form a large neutral cloud in orbit around Neptune called the Triton torus. The modelled rate of escape of hydrogen, both atomic and molecular, is about 7×1025 particles per second; nitrogen escape rates are inferred to be 2–3 times lower. The density of the neutral hydrogen torus is comparable, if not greater than that of the neutral hydrogen torus maintained by Titan. The ionization of neutral particles in the Triton torus and the escape of ions from Triton's atmosphere may act as the dominant source of plasma within Neptune's magnetosphere.
Triton's atmosphere is well structured and global. The atmosphere extends up to 870 kilometers above the surface, where the exobase is located, and had a surface pressure of about 14 microbars as of 1989. This is only 1/70,000th of the surface pressure on Earth. The surface temperature was at least 35.6 K (−237.6 °C) because Triton's nitrogen ice is in the warmer, hexagonal crystalline state, and the phase transition between hexagonal and cubic nitrogen ice occurs at that temperature. An upper limit in the low 40s (K) can be set from vapor pressure equilibrium with nitrogen gas in Triton's atmosphere. The most likely temperature was 38±1 K as of 1989. In the 1990s it probably increased by about 1 K due to the general global warming as Triton approached the peak of its southern hemisphere summer (see below).
Convection near Triton's surface heated by the Sun creates a troposphere (a "weather region") rising to an altitude of about 8 km. In it temperature decreases with height reaching a minimum of about 36 K at the tropopause. There is no stratosphere, defined as a layer where heating from the warmer troposphere and thermosphere is balanced by radiative cooling. Higher regions include the thermosphere (8–850 km) and exosphere (above 850 km). In the thermosphere the temperature rises reaching a constant value of about 95 K above 300 km. The upper atmosphere continuously leaks into outer space due to the weak gravity of Triton. The loss rate is about 1×1025 nitrogen molecules per second, equivalent to about 0.3 kg/s.
Nitrogen ice particles form clouds in the troposphere a few kilometers above the surface of Triton. Above them a haze is present extending up to 30 km from the surface. It is believed to be composed largely of hydrocarbons and nitriles created by the action of the Sun's and stellar ultraviolet light on methane.
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