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Prograde satellites of Uranus orbit in the direction Uranus rotates, which is retrograde to the Sun. Nearly all regular satellites are tidally locked and thus have prograde rotation. Retrograde satellites are generally small and distant from their planets, except Neptune's satellite Triton, which is large and close. All retrograde satellites ...
A satellite with an orbital inclination between zero and ninety degrees is said to be in what is called a direct or prograde orbit, meaning that it orbits in the same direction as the planet's rotation. A satellite with an orbital inclination between 90° and 180° (or, equivalently, between 0° and −90°) is said to be in a retrograde orbit.
The United States launched two Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) radar satellites into 122° inclined retrograde orbits in 2010 and 2012. The use of a retrograde orbit suggest that these satellites use synthetic aperture radar. [3] Earth-observing satellites may also be launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit, which is slightly retrograde. [8]
S/2004 S 24 is a natural satellite of Saturn, and the outermost known prograde satellite.Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, and Jan Kleyna on October 7, 2019 from observations taken between December 12, 2004 and March 22, 2007.
Apart from those in Sun-synchronous orbit, few satellites are launched into retrograde orbit on Earth because the quantity of fuel required to launch them is greater than for a prograde orbit. This is because when the rocket starts out on the ground, it already has an eastward component of velocity equal to the rotational velocity of the planet ...
The Himalia group is a group of prograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and are thought to have a common origin. [1] The known members of the group are (in order of increasing distance from Jupiter):
The rate of precession depends on the inclination of the orbital plane to the equatorial plane, as well as the orbital eccentricity.. For a satellite in a prograde orbit around Earth, the precession is westward (nodal regression), that is, the node and satellite move in opposite directions. [1]
The inclination and semi-major axis are represented on the Y and X-axis, respectively. The satellites with inclinations below 90° are prograde, those above 90° are retrograde. The X-axis is labeled in terms of Saturn's Hill radius. The Inuit group is a dynamical grouping of the prograde irregular satellites of Saturn which follow similar orbits.