A small satellite orbits Pluto. Eight satellites orbit Neptune, the closest planet to Pluto. Pluto is much smaller than Neptune. Why isn't Pluto a satellite of Neptune?
1 Answer
Despite that Pluto's perihelion is close to Neptune's aphelion, the orbital inclination of Pluto is as high as
Explanation:
Pluto's perihelion is 4436.8 million km. Neptune's aphelion is 4545.7
million km. If the orbits of both had been coplanar, probably, Pluto
could have become Neptune's satellite. The orbital inclination for
Pluto is as high as
parent is the Sun and Neptune could not adopt Pluto.
It is a research problem to find when Pluto at perihelion would be
aligned with Neptune at aphelion, along with the Sun on the Pluto
side, enabling Neptune to attempt adoption of Pluto, as its satellite.
The Pluto-Neptune distance then would be about 109 million km.
. .