6 Strangest Real Orbits in Our Solar System: How Do They Move?

Six real orbits in our Solar System that don't move the way you'd expect. Each chapter starts with the normal view. Then the camera turns with the bodies, time speeds up, and the strange path draws itself. Things to notice: Janus and Epimetheus never overtake each other. Every four years they swap orbits instead. Pluto and Charon both circle a point in empty space outside Pluto. Triton goes around Neptune the opposite way to the planet's spin and its seven inner moons. Pluto dips inside Neptune's orbit, yet over the 500 years shown they never come closer than about 19 AU. Kamoʻoalewa orbits the Sun, but seen from Earth it loops around us once a year. And 7,443 Hilda asteroids hold a triangle with Jupiter, while 16,445 Trojans ride ahead of it and behind it. 00:00 Janus and Epimetheus 00:35 Pluto and Charon 01:21 Triton 02:03 Pluto and Neptune 02:41 Kamoʻoalewa 03:14 Jupiter's triangle More in this series: 14 Real Dwarf Planets Compared (   • 14 Real Dwarf Planets and Distant Worlds C...  ), 40 Real Stars Around a Black Hole (   • 40 Real Stars Around a Black Hole Compared...  ) and 56 Real Moons Compared (   • 56 Real Moons Compared: How Do They Move?  ). Model: positions and orbits from NASA JPL. The gap between the orbits of Janus and Epimetheus is shown 180 times wider. Pluto and Charon are to scale; Earth, Kamoʻoalewa and the moons around Neptune are drawn larger than life. Trojans, Hildas and Neptune's 3:2 worlds move at their average resonant pace. Planet surfaces are illustrations, and the notes are artistic. Sources NASA JPL Horizons and Small-Body Database: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/