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In the Solar System, many of the asteroid-sized moons have retrograde orbits, whereas all the large moons except Triton (the largest of Neptune's moons) have prograde orbits. [13] The particles in Saturn's Phoebe ring are thought to have a retrograde orbit because they originate from the irregular moon Phoebe.
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 convention is that the normal orbit is prograde, an orbit in the same direction as the planet rotates. Inclinations greater than 90° describe retrograde orbits (backward). Thus: An inclination of 0° means the orbiting body has a prograde orbit in the planet's equatorial plane.
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 less than 26°, and inclinations greater than 170° are only found in Saturn's system.
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. Seven moons are large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, including Titan, the second largest moon in the Solar System.
The new discovery increases the moons orbiting the "jewel of our solar system" to 82, surpassing Jupiter. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: ...
Retrograde (backward) and prograde (forward) are observed as though the stars revolve around the Earth. Ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy in 150 AD believed that the Earth was the center of the Solar System and therefore used the terms retrograde and prograde to describe the movement of the planets in relation to the stars. Although it is known ...
The poles of astronomical bodies are determined based on their axis of rotation in relation to the celestial poles of the celestial sphere. Astronomical bodies include stars, planets, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and minor planets (e.g., asteroids), as well as natural satellites and minor-planet moons.