Hubble Uncovers Smallest Moons Yet Seen Around Uranus

Hop David writes:

Gordon D. Pusch wrote:
Hop David writes:
[...]
Do Uranus' moons lie in her equatorial plane?

Yes. Tidal friction tends to damp out an inner moon's orbital inclination
relative to the planetary equator on timescales short compared to the
lifetime of the solar system. High orbital inclination satellites
usually have fairly large orbital radii, and are generally thought
to be relatively recent "captures." (One exception to this is if
their inclinations are being "forced" by some orbital resonance.)

At first I had thought Uranus and her moons must have formed from a
subdisk perpendicular to the solar system. But I guess if a later event
had knocked Uranus' axis off kilter, the moons would've moved into her
equatorial plane over a short time.

Yes, that is correct.


BTW, Uranus [Greek "Ouranos," God of the Sky, and Kronos' (Saturn's) father]
was a "him," not a "her."


-- Gordon D. Pusch

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