Triton, Not Pluto or Eris, Is The Kuiper Belt’s Largest World
It may have been captured by Neptune since it formed, but Triton remains king of the Kuiper belt.
Our Solar System is arguably the most well-studied corner of the Universe, with humanity having mapped out the planets, moons, and other significant bodies in our vicinity. Closest to the Sun, we have the densest worlds: made out of the heaviest elements and too small to hold onto a gas giant envelope. Beyond that are the asteroids, coinciding with the Solar System’s original frost line. Farther out than those are the four gas giant worlds, each with their own system of moons and rings. And finally, beyond that, are the trans-Neptunian objects: the frozen, comet-like worlds and bodies that are the farthest ones in our Solar System we’ve ever detected.
But which world is the true King of the Kuiper belt, the innermost of the trans-Neptunian objects? It’s not Pluto, the one with the greatest radius, nor Eris, the one with the greatest mass. Instead, Triton — the largest moon of Neptune — has them both beat. Here’s the bizarre story of how.
