images

Ice volcano on Triton

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

a-nep99-00024

Date

2009-08-25

There is evidence that the south pole of Neptune's satellite Triton is host to dozens of ice volcanoes, or geysers. One such eruption was observed to shoot a towering jet of material to a height of five miles, while the tenuous nitrogen atmosphere carried the smoky plume over 80 miles "downwind." The eruptive material is believed to be a combination of liquid nitrogen, dust, and methane compounds driven by seasonal heating from the Sun.