I think it is mainly just that we have no spacecraft currently around either Neptune or Uranus or any near future chance of visiting them. So have to study them from Earth and using data collected by Voyager 2. No other spacecraft has ever visited either of them.
Triton especially is very intriguing.
With its nitrogen geysers and varied terrain - it's as mysterious as Pluto in many ways. There are similarities to Pluto, but differences also.
But there's a limit to what you can do about that when all you have are several decades old images to work with and no prospects at all of getting any more.
There was a huge amount of interest in both during the Voyager 2 flyby.
This video is from just before the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune - all the ideas they had about what they might or might not find about Neptune and Triton. Which did not match what they found on Triton much at all - many surprises there.
And Neptune itself was a great surprise with its weather systems and the spots, and very high winds. That it was so active with so little heat generated. That is something we can now observe from Earth to some extent especially with Hubble.
But just as we couldn't observe Pluto until we had the New Horizons flyby - it was just a few pixels in a Hubble image for many years - is same for Triton and all the other moons, and to some extent Uranus and Neptune also, can't see much detail from Earth There are suggestions to send spacecraft there again and studies as Michael Busch said Uranus, Neptune in NASA’s sights for new robotic mission
But I don't think there is a definite confirmed mission to visit either at present.
Triton especially is very intriguing.
With its nitrogen geysers and varied terrain - it's as mysterious as Pluto in many ways. There are similarities to Pluto, but differences also.
But there's a limit to what you can do about that when all you have are several decades old images to work with and no prospects at all of getting any more.
There was a huge amount of interest in both during the Voyager 2 flyby.
This video is from just before the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune - all the ideas they had about what they might or might not find about Neptune and Triton. Which did not match what they found on Triton much at all - many surprises there.
And Neptune itself was a great surprise with its weather systems and the spots, and very high winds. That it was so active with so little heat generated. That is something we can now observe from Earth to some extent especially with Hubble.
Neptune in Primary Colors
But just as we couldn't observe Pluto until we had the New Horizons flyby - it was just a few pixels in a Hubble image for many years - is same for Triton and all the other moons, and to some extent Uranus and Neptune also, can't see much detail from Earth There are suggestions to send spacecraft there again and studies as Michael Busch said Uranus, Neptune in NASA’s sights for new robotic mission
But I don't think there is a definite confirmed mission to visit either at present.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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