The tilt between Neptune's magnetic and rotational axes, along with Triton's orbital obliquity, causes a strong time variability of the moon's local electromagnetic environment. To constrain Triton's interaction with the ambient magnetospheric plasma, we apply a hybrid (kinetic ions, fluid electrons) model including the moon's ionosphere and induced field. To represent the extremes in the changes to the local electromagnetic field over a synodic rotation, we consider two orientations between the ambient magnetic field and flow velocity. For each, we first investigate the (analytical) magnetic signatures associated with the superposition of Triton's induced field and the magnetospheric field in the absence of any plasma interaction effects. To constrain the effect of Triton's ionosphere on the currents, we model the interaction between the ionospheric and magnetospheric plasma in isolation from the moon's inductive response, before combining these effects to investigate the complex scenario of plasma interaction and induction. Finally, we explore the sensitivity of the plasma interaction to changes in the ambient plasma density and the strength of Triton's inductive response. Despite plasma interaction signatures that dominate the plasma perturbations far from the moon (beyond similar to 3 Triton radii), we illustrate that the induced field is clearly discernible within similar to 3 Triton radii, regardless of the moon's location within Neptune's magnetosphere. We find that the orientation of the magnetospheric field and velocity vectors strongly affects Triton's plasma interaction; at times, resembling those of Jupiter's or Saturn's moons, while at others, revealing unprecedented signatures that are likely unique to moons of the ice giants.

We develop an analytical model of the Alfven wings generated by the interaction between a moon's ionosphere and its sub-Alfvenic magnetospheric environment. Our approach takes into account a realistic representation of the ionospheric Pedersen conductance profile that typically reaches a local minimum above the moon's poles and maximizes along the bundle of magnetospheric field lines tangential to the surface. By solving the equation for the electrostatic potential, we obtain expressions for various quantities characterizing the interaction, such as the number flux and energy deposition of magnetospheric plasma onto the surface, the spatial distribution of currents within the Alfven wings and associated magnetic field perturbations, as well as the Poynting flux transmitted along the wings. Our major findings are: (a) Deflection of the magnetospheric plasma around the Alfven wings can reduce the number flux onto the surface by several orders of magnitude. However, the Alfvenic interaction alone does not alter the qualitative shape of the bullseye-like precipitation pattern formed without the plasma interaction. (b) Due to the deflection of the upstream plasma, the energy deposition onto the moon's exosphere achieves its minimum near the ramside apex and maximizes along the flanks of the interaction region. (c) Even when the ionospheric conductance profile is continuous, the currents along the Alfven wings exhibit several sharp jumps. These discontinuities generate spikes in the magnetic field that are still observable at large distances to the moon. (d) The magnitude and direction of the wing-aligned currents are determined by the slope of the ionospheric conductance profile.