From: gdpusch@NO.xnet.SPAM.com   
      
   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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