New hypothesis to explain the abnormal orbit of Triton
2006/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
A group of American astrophysicists launches a new hypothesis that explains the irregular orbit of Triton. According to the hypothesis, when the solar system was young, Triton formed the binary system with another body. But that binary system came very close to the orbit of Neptune and Neptune appropriated Triton. However, the member of Triton was released.
Triton is a moon, but 40% larger than Pluto, which orbits Neptune in the opposite direction to the rotation of the planet -- it is called orbit backwards. In addition, its orbit is strongly inclined against the axis of rotation of Neptune. The hypotheses have been raised before to explain the eccentricity of Triton, but they were not forceful. One of the hypotheses is that the atmosphere of the ancient Neptune was denser than the current one, which slowed Triton to reach the current orbit. Another hypothesis is that Triton interacted with another satellite, which forced it to take the current orbit.
