• DOI:10.1038/nature01584
Corpus ID: 4424447

An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter

@article{Sheppard2003AnAP,
  title={An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter},
  author={S. Sheppard and D. Jewitt},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2003},
  volume={423},
  pages={261-263}
}

S. Sheppard, D. Jewitt

Published 2003

Physics, Medicine

Nature

Irregular satellites have eccentric orbits that can be highly inclined or even retrograde relative to the equatorial planes of their planets. These objects cannot have formed by circumplanetary accretion, unlike the regular satellites that follow uninclined, nearly circular and prograde orbits. Rather, they are probably products of early capture from heliocentric orbits. Although the capture mechanism remains uncertain, the study of irregular satellites provides a window on processes operating… CONTINUE READING

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