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All known dwarf planets and dwarf planet candidates have prograde orbits around the Sun, but some have retrograde rotation. Pluto has retrograde rotation; its axial tilt is approximately 120 degrees. [9] Pluto and its moon Charon are tidally locked to each other. It is suspected that the Plutonian satellite system was created by a massive ...
Two prograde moons of Saturn do not definitively belong to either the Inuit or Gallic groups. [1] S/2004 S 24 and S/2006 S 12 have similar orbital inclinations as the Gallic group, but have much more distant orbits with semi-major axes of ~400 Saturn radii and ~340 Saturn radii, respectively. [84] [13] [1]
The inclination and semi-major axis are represented on the Y and X-axis, respectively. The satellites with inclinations below 90° are prograde, those above 90° are retrograde. The X-axis is labeled in terms of Saturn's Hill radius. The Gallic group is a dynamical grouping of the prograde irregular satellites of Saturn following similar orbits.
The prograde satellites consist of the Himalia group and three others in groups of one. The retrograde moons are grouped into the Carme, Ananke and Pasiphae groups. Saturn has 146 moons with known orbits; 66 of them have received permanent designations, and 63 have been named. Most of them are quite small.
The orbits of the known irregular satellites are extremely diverse, but there are certain patterns. Retrograde orbits are far more common (83%) than prograde orbits. No satellites are known with orbital inclinations higher than 60° (or smaller than 130° for retrograde satellites); moreover, apart from Nereid, no irregular moon has inclination ...
Surprise Inside Saturn's Moons Other than its giant impact crater, scientists thought Mimas was a rather boring piece of cold rock. Now, a new study says Mimas is much more mysterious, even exciting.
Saturn – sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Although only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive.
The new discovery increases the moons orbiting the "jewel of our solar system" to 82, surpassing Jupiter