Flying Past Neptunes Moon Triton

Tuesday, June 23, 2026 All day

What would it look like to fly past Triton , the largest moon of planet Neptune ? Only one spacecraft has ever done this — and the images of this dramatic encounter have been gathered into a video . In 1989, the Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft shot through the Neptune system with cameras blazing. Triton is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon but has ice volcanoes and a surface rich in frozen nitrogen . The first sequence in the video shows Voyager’s approach to Triton , which, with the exception of an overall false green tint , appears in approximately true color. The mysterious cantaloupe terrain seen under the spacecraft soon changed from light to dark, with the terminator of night crossing underneath . After closest approach, Voyager pivoted to see the departing moon, now visible as a diminishing crescent . In 2015, the robotic New Horizons spacecraft famously flew past Pluto , an orb of similar size to Triton. Flying Past Neptune's Moon Triton Explanation: What would it look like to fly past Triton , the largest moon of planet Neptune ? Only one spacecraft has ever done this — and the images of this dramatic encounter have been gathered into a video . In 1989, the Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft shot through the Neptune system with cameras blazing. Triton is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon but has ice volcanoes and a surface rich in frozen nitrogen . The first sequence in the video shows Voyager’s approach to Triton , which, with the exception of an overall false green tint , appears in approximately true color. The mysterious cantaloupe terrain seen under the spacecraft soon changed from light to dark, with the terminator of night crossing underneath . After closest approach, Voyager pivoted to see the departing moon, now visible as a diminishing crescent . In 2015, the robotic New Horizons spacecraft famously flew past Pluto , an orb of similar size to Triton. Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator Image Credit: NASA ; JPL , Voyager 2, Digital composition: Paul Schenk ( LPI , USRA ) https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-june-23-flying-past-neptunes-moon-triton/