Atmosphere of Triton by the ground-based observations, is slightly more abundant than methane. The abundance of methane relative to nitrogen increased by four to five times since 1986 due to the seasonal warming observed on Triton, which passed its solstice in 2001. Other possible components of the Triton's atmosphere include argon and neon. Because they were not detected in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum of Triton obtained by Voyager 2 in 1989, their abundances are unlikely to exceed a few percent. In addition to the gases mentioned above, the upper atmosphere contains significant amounts of both molecular and atomic hydrogen, which is
Noble gas or neon are known. The noble gases—including helium—can form stable molecular ions in the gas phase. The simplest is the helium hydride molecular ion, HeH, discovered in 1925. Because it is composed of the two most abundant elements in the universe, hydrogen and helium, it is believed to occur naturally in the interstellar medium, although it has not been detected yet. In addition to these ions, there are many known neutral excimers of the noble gases. These are compounds such as ArF and KrF that are stable only when in an excited electronic state; some of them find application in