OT Question for Astronomers

[Loser]

Looks like Triton's orbit is inclined about 157 degrees to the plane of Neptune's rotation, and Neptune's rotation is inclined about 30 degrees off the plane of its orbit around Sol.

Am I supposed to add these two to get the inclination of Triton's rotation (which is the same as it's orbit of Neptune as it is tidelocked) to Sol? That would make enough sense, as that would fit what I've read about Triton having a retrograde orbit.

But, I've also read that Triton turns its pole to the Sun, more like the whole regular portion of the Uranian system. This would not fit with the whole 'add them' thing as it 187 degrees of inclination is nearly parallel. It would also make the whole 'retrograde' thing hard for me to grasp.

So which is it?

I've got some links.

http://www.projectpluto.com/nsats.htm
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/features...ne/triton.html
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplan...ts/triton.html
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~sheppard/...epsatdata.html


Links with answers.... please?

[ October 28, 2003, 19:08: Message edited by: Loser ]

[geoschmo]

Planning a trip are we?

[oleg]

Triton is a boring place. I recommend Callisto for a best kick for your bucks Seriosly though vulcan eruptions are worth it !

[Loser]

Originally posted by oleg:
Triton is a boring place. I recommend Callisto for a best kick for your bucks Seriosly though vulcan eruptions are worth it !

Active eruptions can only be found on Earth, Venus, Io, and Triton, so far.

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Planning a trip are we?

Just some highly fictional reference material.

But does anyone have the answer?

A little animated model of the Solar System would really be ideal... but any dependable answer would be very appreciated.

[ October 29, 2003, 03:04: Message edited by: Loser ]

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by Loser:
Just some highly fictional reference material.

But does anyone have the answer?

A little animated model of the Solar System would really be ideal... but any dependable answer would be very appreciated.

A site with some more information.

http://www.boulder.swri.edu/TritonWatch/background.html

the science overview section seems to suggest that you can neither add or substract the values, and that it is more complicated. it seems that triton's orbit precesses, which causes it to have seasonal fluctuations of about 688 years. A quote from http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/neptglos.html:

Major summer�Triton's seasonal cycle is extremely complex due to the peculiarities of its orbital geometry. Its seasons are modulated by the period of its motion around Neptune (14 days), the precession of its orbit (688 years), and Neptune's rotation around the Sun (165 years). The net result is that Triton experiences a series of major and minor seasons as the amplitude of its seasonal cycle is driven by these various modulations.

I'm not sure how accurate that information is since they seem to have the period of Tritons orbital motion wrong by quite a few days..

Things like this make my head hurt .

[ October 29, 2003, 09:10: Message edited by: henk brouwer ]

[oleg]

I take my words back
Ice volcanoes are cool !!

Is it really possible that Triton came from outer space as implied in the artticle ?