Kraken Catena is a pit chain (''catena'') and likely tectonic fault on

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

, the largest natural satellite of

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

. It, along with

Set Catena Set Catena is a pit chain (''catena'') and likely tectonic fault located on Triton, the largest natural satellite of Neptune. It, along with Kraken Catena, is located near Leviathan Patera, a major cryovolcanic feature; as such, Set Catena ...

, is located near and is aligned approximately radially from

Leviathan Patera Leviathan Patera is a major cryovolcanic caldera on Neptune's largest moon Triton. Discovered by the ''Voyager 2'' spacecraft in 1989, Leviathan Patera is located in Monad Regio and within Cipango Planum's western regions. Leviathan Patera is ...

, a major

cryovolcanic A cryovolcano (sometimes informally referred to as an ice volcano) is a type of volcano that erupts gases and volatile material such as liquid water, ammonia, and hydrocarbons. The erupted material is collectively referred to as ''cryolava''; ...

feature; as such, Kraken Catena may have played a role in rift-induced cryovolcanic activity in Leviathan Patera. Several of Kraken Catena's pits have central steep-sided knobs, giving a moated appearance similar to the moated mountains found on

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

's moon

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and ...

and

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

's moon

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

. As with all other surface features of Triton, Kraken Catena was discovered when ''

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, as a part of the Voyager program. It was launched on a trajectory towards the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and enabled further encounters with the ice giants (Uranus and ...

'' visited the Neptune system on 25 August 1989. It is named after the

Kraken The kraken (, from , "the crookie") is a legendary sea monster of enormous size, per its etymology something akin to a cephalopod, said to appear in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of Norway. It is believed that the legend of the Kraken may h ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

; the name was officially approved by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

(IAU) in 1991. It is located at 14°N, 35.5°E, within Cipango Planum and Monad Regio.

References

{{crater-stub Surface features of Neptune's moons Triton (moon)

See also

References