GEO 303 Lecture 35: Lecture 35: Neptune’s Moons and Pluto
23 Dec 2017
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They are all tiny in comparison, totalling <1% of triton"s mass. Uranus, saturn, & jupiter all have several large moons that are comparable in mass to. The answer lies in the capture origin of triton one another. After its initial capture, triton would have had a highly elliptical orbit that would have. These smaller moons would have been destroyed by collision w/ triton or flung out. The only major moon in the ss w/ a crossed the orbits of other normal moons into space by gravitational interactions w/ triton. Retrograde but instead was captured during the final stages of ss formation. The composition of the icy satellites & kbos varies w/ distance from the sun. W/ greater distance, temps drop & new phases begin to freeze out in the solar nebula. While jupiter"s satellites are mostly rock & water ice, kbos contain greater quantities. Sublimation of nitrogen ice produces triton"s very thin atmosphere.
