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The Surface Compositions of Triton, Pluto, and Charon

  • Chapter
Solar System Ices

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 227))

Abstract

Neptune’s satellite Triton, and the planet-satellite binary Pluto and Charon, are the most distant planetary bodies on which ices have been directly detected. Triton and Pluto have very similar dimensions and mean densities, suggesting a similar or common origin. Through Earth-based spectroscopic observations in the near-infrared, solid N 2, CH 4, H 2 O, and CO have been found on both bodies, with the additional molecule CO 2 on Triton. N 2 dominates both surfaces, although the coverage is not spatially uniform. On Triton, the CH 2 and CO are mostly or entirely frozen in the N 2 matrix, while CO 2 may be spatially segregated. On Pluto, some CH 4 and the CO are frozen in the N 2 matrix, but there is evidence for additional CH 2 in a pure state, perhaps lying as a lag deposit on a subsurface layer of N 2. Despite their compositional and dimensional similarities, Pluto and Triton are quite different from one another in detail. Additional hydrocarbons and other volatile ices have been sought spectroscopically but have not yet been detected. The only molecule identified on Pluto’s satellite Charon is solid H 2 O, but the spectroscopic data are of low precision and admit the presence of other ices such as CH 4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA, 94035-1000, USA

    Dale P. Cruikshank & Ted L. Roush

  2. San Francisco State Univ., USA

    Ted L. Roush

  3. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Dr., Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Tobias C. Owen

  4. Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l’Environnement, Domaine Universitaire, 54, rue Molière, B.P. 96, 38402, Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France

    Eric Quirico

  5. Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France

    Catherine De Bergh

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  1. Dale P. Cruikshank
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  1. Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l’Environnement, Grenoble/Saint Martin d’Hères, France

    B. Schmitt

  2. Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France

    C. De Bergh

  3. Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France

    M. Festou

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Cruikshank, D.P., Roush, T.L., Owen, T.C., Quirico, E., Bergh, C.D. (1998). The Surface Compositions of Triton, Pluto, and Charon. In: Schmitt, B., De Bergh, C., Festou, M. (eds) Solar System Ices. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 227. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5252-5_27

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