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Some Planet-like Kuiper Belt Objects Don’t Play “Nice”
![Distribution of Kuiper belt objects (green), along with various other outer Solar System bodies, based on data from the Minor Planet Center. [Credit: Minor Planet Center; Murray and Dermott]](/r2/?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Outersolarsystem_objectpositions_labels_comp.png)
Distribution of Kuiper belt objects (green), along with various other outer Solar System bodies, based on data from the Minor Planet Center. [Credit: Minor Planet Center; Murray and Dermott]
The Kuiper belt — the region beyond the orbit of Neptune inhabited by a number of small bodies of rock and ice — hides many clues about the early days of the Solar System. According to the standard picture of Solar System formation, many planetesimals were born in the chaotic region where the giant planets now reside. Some were thrown out beyond the orbit of Neptune, while others stayed put in the form of Trojan asteroids (which orbit in the same trajectory as Jupiter and other planets). This is called the Nice model.
However, not all Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) play nicely with the Nice model.
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Read the rest of Some Planet-like Kuiper Belt Objects Don’t Play “Nice” (611 words)
© matthewfrancisRMC for Universe Today, 2014. |
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Post tags: kuiper belt objects, Nice Model, trojan asteroids
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/108189/some-planet-like-kuiper-belt-objects-dont-play-nice/
