Celestia Forums

Triton's orbit is inclined at ~22.7 degrees to Neptune's equator and is retrograde.

As its orbit decays due to tidal forces, will the inclination decrease, or will it still have significant inclination by the time it breaks up at the Roche limit or hits Neptune?

Also, would the breakup of a moon in an inclined orbit lead to a ring system, as most of the debris would be out of the equatorial plane where ring systems are typically located, and would the retrograde direction inhibit formation of the ring?

Thanks for any help.

Unfortunately don' know the answer to your questions but I seem to remember a thread in which the Evil Dr. said that Triton might not even meet the roche limit and therefore might not break up. Don't quote me on it though .