Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Apples and oranges

Triton is denser...

Hi All

Gary, Triton is denser than Titan [ 2.065 vs 1.89 ] which makes it even more of a rocky core object - even more so because there's less compression of the core. Alternatively there might be a mix of ices - carbon dioxide is one possibility that would increase the volatile fraction as it is easily compressible and contracts significantly, compared to water, at low temperature. Hence a high relative density w.r.t Titan could be due to significant amounts of CO2.

But I think the pseudo-cantaloupe terrain in the raw image is a diffraction artifact.

Adam

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