- New research, utilising observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed that a catastrophic event billions of years ago 'destroyed ancient worlds' around Neptune, the solar system's outermost planet.
- Scientists discovered clay minerals, typically found deep inside certain worlds, on three of Neptune's small inner moons (Proteus, Larissa, Galatea) and its inner dusty rings, indicating these materials originated from a much larger ancient world that was subsequently destroyed.
- The culprit behind this cataclysm appears to be Triton, Neptune's largest moon, which was captured by Neptune's gravitational pull from the Kuiper Belt during the solar system's early, chaotic formation.
- After its capture, Triton's gravitational forces disrupted Neptune's original moons, causing most to collide; Neptune's current inner moons and rings then re-formed from this debris, offering a rare glimpse into the deep interiors of ancient icy worlds.
- Triton's unique retrograde orbit (opposite to Neptune's spin) further supports its capture theory, explaining why Neptune, unlike other gas giants, has a satellite system dominated by a captured interloper rather than an orderly family of moons.
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