Irregular satellites
E891897
Irregular satellites are natural moons that follow distant, highly inclined, and often eccentric or retrograde orbits around their parent planets, suggesting they were likely captured rather than formed in place.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astronomical object class
ⓘ
natural satellite population ⓘ |
| areClassifiedBy |
direction of motion
ⓘ
dynamical families ⓘ orbital eccentricity ⓘ orbital inclination ⓘ |
| areFoundAround |
Jupiter
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Mars NERFINISHED ⓘ Neptune NERFINISHED ⓘ Saturn NERFINISHED ⓘ Uranus NERFINISHED ⓘ dwarf planet Eris NERFINISHED ⓘ dwarf planet Haumea NERFINISHED ⓘ dwarf planet Makemake NERFINISHED ⓘ dwarf planet Pluto NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| areInfluencedBy |
Kozai resonance
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
gravitational perturbations from other satellites ⓘ planetary oblateness ⓘ solar perturbations ⓘ |
| areStudiedIn |
celestial mechanics
ⓘ
planetary science ⓘ |
| areUsually |
geologically inactive
ⓘ
irregularly shaped ⓘ small bodies ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | regular satellites ⓘ |
| differsFrom |
regular satellites in distance from planet
ⓘ
regular satellites in eccentricity ⓘ regular satellites in likely formation mechanism ⓘ regular satellites in orbital inclination ⓘ |
| hasOrbitalCharacteristic |
high orbital inclination
ⓘ
large semi-major axis relative to planet’s radius ⓘ long orbital periods ⓘ often high orbital eccentricity ⓘ often retrograde motion ⓘ orbits far from planet’s regular satellite region ⓘ orbits near the planet’s Hill sphere limit ⓘ |
| hasOriginHypothesis |
captured Kuiper belt objects
ⓘ
captured asteroids ⓘ captured objects ⓘ fragments of captured parent bodies ⓘ products of collisional break-up ⓘ |
| helpConstrain |
collisional history of the outer Solar System
ⓘ
models of capture processes in the early Solar System ⓘ models of planetary migration ⓘ |
| oftenBelongTo | collisional families ⓘ |
| orbits |
dwarf planets
ⓘ
giant planets ⓘ terrestrial planets ⓘ |
| typicallyDoNot | form in circumplanetary disk in situ GENERATED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.