Cosma / Communication / Knowledge / Realm / Physical / Universe / Solar System / Scattered Disc
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Introduction1
Encyclopedia
Scattered disc (or scattered disk) is a distant circumstellar disc in the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy small solar system bodies, which are a subset of the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects. The scattered-disc objects (SDOs) have orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8, inclinations as high as 40°, and perihelia greater than 30 astronomical units (4.5×109 km; 2.8×109 mi). These extreme orbits are thought to be the result of gravitational “scattering” by the gas giants, and the objects continue to be subject to perturbation by the planet Neptune.
Although the closest scattered-disc objects approach the Sun at about 30–35 AU, their orbits can extend well beyond 100 AU. This makes scattered objects among the coldest and most distant objects in the Solar System. The innermost portion of the scattered disc overlaps with a torus-shaped region of orbiting objects traditionally called the Kuiper belt, but its outer limits reach much farther away from the Sun and farther above and below the ecliptic than the Kuiper belt proper.
Because of its unstable nature, astronomers consider the scattered disc to be the place of origin for most periodic comets, with the centaurs, a population of icy bodies between Jupiter and Neptune, being the intermediate stage in an object’s migration from the disc to the inner Solar System. — Wikipedia
Scattered Disc Objects (COSMOS: The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy)
Scattered Disc (Wolfram Alpha)
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Inspiration
Articles about the Scattered Disc (Big Think)
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Preservation
History
Discovery of Scattered Disc (Wikipedia)
Library
Subject: Scattered Disc (WorldCat)
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Participation
Education
MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources
Community
Organization
Asteroids & Remote Planets Section (British Astronomical Association)
Government
Document
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Related
Here are links to pages about closely related subjects.
“Fundamentals”
Law (Constant) Relativity
Force Gravity, Electromagnetism (Light, Color)
Matter (Microscope) Molecule, Atom (Periodic Table), Particle
“Space”
Universe (Astronomical Instrument)
Galaxy Milky Way, Andromeda
Planetary System Star, Brown Dwarf, Planet, Moon
Our Neighborhood
Solar System Sun
Terrestrial Planet Mercury, Venus, Earth (Moon), Mars
Asteroid Belt Ceres, Vesta
Jovian Planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Trans-Neptunian Object
Kuiper Belt Pluto, Haumea, Makemake
Scattered Disc Eris, Sedna, Planet X
Oort Cloud Etc. Scholz’s Star
Small Body Comet, Centaur, Asteroid
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Notes
1. The resources on this page are are organized by a classification scheme developed exclusively for Cosma.