Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Krail t1_j7x0u6d wrote

Reply to comment by mfb- in Is it possible for a planet to have two rings with different radius, and not on the same plane? by YYM7

Do artificial satellites also experience this tendency to be pushed into equatorial orbit?

1

mfb- t1_j7x25gx wrote

This tendency relies on repeated collisions so it doesn't apply on the timescale of us doing spaceflight. An individual satellite keeps its inclination. If we launch so many that they will all collide with something and produce tons of dust then this dust will tend to accumulate in an equatorial orbit in the distant future (in regions where atmospheric drag doesn't deorbit it first).

6