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How to catch a Dwarf Planet -- Triton

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    The 14 moons of Neptune
    are a strange bunch.
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    Most of them are small
    potato shaped pieces of ice and rock.
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    Some are so far away from Neptune that
    they need 29 years to circle Neptune once.
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    Almost all of them are asteroids
    trapped by Neptune's gravity.
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    99.5% of all the mass around Neptune
    is concentrated in Triton.
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    It's the 7th biggest moon, and
    more massive than all other known moons
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    in the solar system that are
    smaller than itself combined.
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    Its surface area is about as big as the
    mainland of Russia and Australia together.
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    Also, Triton is one of only four objects
    in the solar system that we know is geologically active.
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    Triton orbits Neptune in the 'wrong' direction,
    against the rotation of Neptune,
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    which is unique in our solar system
    for an object as big as Triton.
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    We can conclude from this that
    Triton hasn't always been a moon of Neptune,
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    but probably was a dwarf planet that
    was forced into submission by Neptune,
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    when the solar system was younger
    and more chaotic.
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    The most popular theory here is that
    Triton was once part of a double system,
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    when Neptune migrated
    to the outer edges of the solar system,
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    its gravity interfered with the double system
    and catapulted the other object into space,
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    while Triton was forced into orbit.
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    This would of disrupted the orbits
    of other Neptune moons rather violently
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    and would most likely have
    either pushed them away from Neptune,
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    or let them collide or crash into Neptune.
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    This would explain why Neptune's moons
    are so dominated by Triton.
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    But, this will end one day,
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    Triton is being slowed down by Neptune,
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    and eventually,
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    it will either crash into it,
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    or be ground by Neptune's gravity into
    a huge ring system, similar to Saturn's.
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    So, don't by real estate on Triton.
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    Fixed English Subtiles by
    Mads Hagemann Nielsen - 2015
Title:
How to catch a Dwarf Planet -- Triton
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
02:07

English subtitles

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