spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


New model explains capture of Triton
Posted: Mon, May 15, 2006, 7:32 AM ET (1132 GMT)
Triton (NASA/JPL) Planetary scientists have developed a new model that explains how Triton, Neptune's largest moon, ended up in its unusual orbit. According to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature, Triton was once part of a binary system, much like Pluto-Charon, that passed close to Neptune. The planet's gravity stripped Triton from its binary companion, putting the world into an inclined, circular, retrograde orbit around Neptune. The model explains the moon's unusual orbit more satisfactorily than earlier models, which relied on a collision with another moon or aerodynamic drag from the protoplanetary disk that created the solar system.
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief
Space Force adds Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to NSSL contract
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:19 AM ET (1319 GMT)

Cygnus departs from ISS
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:14 AM ET (1314 GMT)

Vulcan Centaur certified for national security launches
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:10 AM ET (1310 GMT)

news links
Friday, April 4
How China is expanding its anti-satellite arsenal
Defense One — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list