The farthest planet from the Sun has a rather strange collection of moons in its orbit. That may be because Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, made a mess when it forced its way into the planet’s orbit billions of years ago. Now, scientists suggest that Neptune’s original set of moons was violently destroyed by Triton’s violent entry, except for one.
Using data from the Webb space telescope, a team of researchers is suggesting that Neptune’s moon Nereid is the only survivor of the ancient lunar collision that rewrote the history of the planet’s orbital satellites. In a recent
study published in Science Advances, the researchers provide new insight into the chaotic history of the solar system and how it changed over billions of years.
Making an entrance
Neptune’s moon Triton was discovered just 17 days after the planet itself. It’s nearly the size of Earth’s Moon, far larger than any of Neptune’s other moons. Triton orbits in the opposite direction of its planet’s rotation, the only large moon in the solar system to display such weird behavior.
Because of its odd qualities, scientists believe that Triton did not form from the remnants of Neptune’s formation. Instead, it may be a Kuiper Belt object that was drawn in and captured by Neptune’s gravity nearly 4 billion years ago. As it entered orbit around Neptune, Triton may have caused quite the chaos, disrupting the planet’s satellite system.
gizmodo.com