Triton (moon) - Discovery and Naming

Discovery and Naming

The moon was discovered by British astronomer William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after Neptune was discovered by German astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, who were following coordinates given to them by French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier.

A brewer by trade, Lassell began making mirrors for his amateur telescope in 1820. When John Herschel received news of Neptune's discovery, he wrote to Lassell suggesting he search for possible moons. Lassell did so and discovered Triton eight days later. Lassell also claimed to have discovered rings. Although Neptune was later confirmed to have rings, they are so faint and dark that it is doubted he actually saw them.

Triton is named after the Greek sea god Triton (Τρίτων), the son of Poseidon (the Greek god comparable to the Roman Neptune). The name was first proposed by Camille Flammarion in his 1880 book Astronomie Populaire, although it was not officially adopted until many decades later. Until the discovery of the second moon Nereid in 1949, Triton was commonly known as simply "the satellite of Neptune". Lassell did not name his own discovery, although he suggested names a few years after his subsequent discovery of an eighth moon of Saturn (Hyperion). The third and fourth moons of Uranus (Ariel and Umbriel), which Lassell discovered in 1851, were named by John Herschel.