海王星的兩個衛(wèi)星被鎖定在一個“回避之舞”

海王星的兩個衛(wèi)星被鎖定在一個“回避之舞”

Neptune may be one of the more mysterious planets in the solar system, but a new study notes that two of its moons, Naiad and Thalassa, are locked in a “dance of avoidance.”

海王星可能是太陽系中較為神秘的行星之一，但一項新的研究指出，海王星的兩顆衛(wèi)星Naiad和Thalassa陷入了一種“回避之舞”

The research, which can be read on the arXiv repository, notes that the two celestial satellites are only separated by approximately 1,150 miles, but they never get within 2,200 miles of one another, orbiting at slightly different speeds. Naiad also moves in a “zigzag pattern,” whereas Thalassa does not.

這項研究可以從arXiv的數據庫里看到，兩顆衛(wèi)星之間只有大約1150英里的距離，但它們之間的距離從未低于2200英里，軌道運行速度略有不同。Naiad也以“之字形”移動，而Thalassa沒有。

“We refer to this repeating pattern as a resonance,” said the study’s lead author, Marina Brozovic, an expert in solar system dynamics at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “There are many different types of ‘dances’ that planets, moons and asteroids can follow, but this one has never been seen before.”

該研究的主要作者，美國宇航局噴氣推進實驗室太陽系動力學專家瑪麗娜·布羅佐維奇(Marina Brozovic)在一份聲明中說：“我們把這種重復模式稱為共振。”。“有許多不同類型的‘舞蹈’，行星、衛(wèi)星和小行星都可以跟著跳，但這一種舞蹈以前從未見過。”

The pattern never changes, as Naiad takes around seven hours to orbit the icy giant planet and Thalassa takes approximately seven and a half hours.

這種模式從未改變，因為Naiad需要大約七小時來繞過冰冷的巨大行星，而Thalassa需要大約七個半小時。

It’s unclear how this pattern started, but Brozovic believes it may have occurred when their original pattern was disrupted after Neptune captured its largest moon, Triton, eons ago.

目前還不清楚這一模式是如何開始的，但布羅佐維奇認為，這可能是在海王星捕獲其最大的衛(wèi)星海衛(wèi)一(Triton)后，它們最初的模式被破壞時發(fā)生的。

“We suspect that Naiad was kicked into its tilted orbit by an earlier interaction with one of Neptune’s other inner moons,” Brozovic added in the statement. “Only later, after its orbital tilt was established, could Naiad settle into this unusual resonance with Thalassa.”

布羅佐維奇在聲明中補充說:“我們懷疑，是由于早先與海王星其他內部衛(wèi)星的相互作用，才使Naiad進入了它傾斜的軌道。”“直到后來，在它的軌道傾斜被建立之后，Naiad才與Thalassa產生了這種不同尋常的共鳴。”