The scattered disc (or scattered disk) is a distant region of our solar system, thinly populated by icy planetoids known as scattered disk objects (SDOs), a subset of the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). The innermost portion of the scattered disc overlaps with the Kuiper belt, but its outer limits extend much farther away from the sun and above and below the ecliptic than the belt proper. Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ... Planetoid (meaning planet-like) is an old synonym of asteroid. ... A trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is any object in the solar system which orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune. ... Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... The Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar system. ... The plane of the ecliptic is well seen in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. ...

The scattered disk is still fairly poorly understood, although prevailing astronomical opinion suggests it was formed when Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) were "scattered" by gravitational interactions with the outer planets, principally Neptune, into highly-eccentric and -inclined orbits. While the Kuiper belt is a relatively "round" and "flat" doughnut of space extending from about 30 AU to 44 AU with its member-objects locked in autonomously circular orbits (cubewanos) or mildly-eliptical resonant orbits (plutinos and twotinos), the scattered disc is by comparison a much more erratic millieu. SDOs can often, as in the case of 2003 UB₃₁₃, travel almost as great a "vertical" distance they do relative to what has come to be defined as "horizontal." Orbital simulations show SDO orbits may well be erratic and unstable and that the ultimate fate of these objects is to be permanently ejected from the core of the solar system into the Oort cloud or beyond. Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... Genitive Neptunian Atmospheric characteristics Surface pressure ≫100 MPa Hydrogen - H2 80% ±3. ... In astrodynamics, under standard assumptions any orbit must be of conic section shape. ... Inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit and is the angular distance of the orbital plane from the plane of the reference (usually planets equator or the ecliptic), stated in degrees. ... A cubewano is any substantial Kuiper belt object, orbiting beyond about 41 AU and not controlled by resonances with the outer planets. ... In celestial mechanics, orbital resonance occurs when two orbiting bodies have periods of revolution that are in a simple integer ratio so that they exert a regular gravitational influence on each other. ... In astronomy, a plutino is a Pluto-like object, insofar as it has the same relative orbit as Pluto. ... While a Plutino completes 2 orbits around the Sun in the time it takes Neptune to complete 3 orbits, a Twotino makes 1 orbit around the Sun in the time it takes Neptune to complete 2 orbits. ... This image is an artists rendering of the Oort cloud and the Kuiper Belt. ...

There is an emerging sense that centaurs may simply be objects just like SDOs that were knocked inwards from the Kuiper belt rather than outwards, making them simply "non-trans-Neptunian" SDOs [1]. Indeed, some objects like (29981) 1999 TD₁₀ blur the distinction, and the Minor Planet Center (MPC) now lists centaurs and SDOs together [2]. In recognition of this blurring of categorization, some scientists use "scattered kuiper belt object" (or SKBO) as an umbrella term for both centaurs and member bodies of the scattered disc. The centaurs are a class of icy planetoids that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, named after the mythical race of centaurs. ... The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which is part of the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) along with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO). ...

Although the TNO 90377 Sedna is officially considered an SDO by the MPC, its discoverer Michael E. Brown has suggested that because its perihelion distance of 76 AU is too distant to be affected by the gravitational attraction of the outer planets it should be considered an inner Oort cloud object rather than a member of the scattered disk [3]. This line of thinking suggests that a lack of gravitational interaction with the outer planets disqualifies a TNO from scattered disc membership, which would create an outer edge somewhere between Sedna and more conventional SDOs like 2003 UB₃₁₃. If Sedna is beyond the scattered disk, it may not be not unique; 2000 CR₁₀₅, which was discovered before Sedna, may also be an inner Oort cloud object or (more likely) a transitional object between the scattered disc and the inner Oort cloud. The centaurs are a class of icy planetoids that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, named after the mythical race of centaurs. ... A trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is any object in the solar system which orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune. ... Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... A cubewano is any substantial Kuiper belt object, orbiting beyond about 41 AU and not controlled by resonances with the outer planets. ... In astronomy, a plutino is a Pluto-like object, insofar as it has the same relative orbit as Pluto. ... While a Plutino completes 2 orbits around the Sun in the time it takes Neptune to complete 3 orbits, a Twotino makes 1 orbit around the Sun in the time it takes Neptune to complete 2 orbits. ... This image is an artists rendering of the Oort cloud and the Kuiper Belt. ... 90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object, discovered by Michael Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Rabinowitz (Yale University) on November 14, 2003. ... Dr. Michael (Mike) E. Brown has been an associate professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 2002. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The comet known as 2000 CR105 is the second most distant known object in the solar system after 90377 Sedna. ...

Scattered disk objects

The first SDO to be discovered was (15874) 1996 TL₆₆, first identified in 1996 by astronomers based at Mauna Kea. (15874) 1996 TL66 is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the Kuyper belt. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five volcanic peaks that together form the Island of Hawaii. ...

List of Notable SDOs

See also List of trans-Neptunian objects. In geometry, the semi-major axis (also semimajor axis) a applies to ellipses and hyperbolas. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. Michael (Mike) E. Brown has been an associate professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 2002. ... Chadwick A. Chad Trujillo (born November 22, 1973) is a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech researching the Kuiper belt and the outer solar system. ... David Lincoln Rabinowitz (born 1960) is a researcher at Yale University studying the Kuiper belt and the outer solar system. ... 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) is a program run by NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory to discover near-Earth objects. ... (15874) 1996 TL66 is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the Kuyper belt. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... David C. Jewitt is a Professor of astronomy at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. ... Categories: American astronomers | Vietnamese Americans | Women in science | Astronomers stubs ... Jun Chen is a Chinese American astronomer. ... This is a partial list of numbered trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), in order of discovery date. ...

External links

• List of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects

A trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is any object in the solar system which orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune. ... Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 0. ... Charon (shair-un or kair-un, Greek Χάρων) is the only known satellite of Pluto. ... 90482 Orcus (originally known by the provisional designation 2004 DW) is a Kuiper Belt object (KBO) that was discovered by Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. ... (28978) Ixion (ik·sye·un) is a Kuiper belt object discovered on May 22, 2001 with a diameter of < 822 km and a semimajor axis of about 39. ... 20000 Varuna (VAR oo na) is a Kuiper Belt object about 1060 kilometers in diameter, estimated from a combination of thermal and optical measurements. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Artists impression by G. Bacon of STScI / NASA 50000 Quaoar (pronounced kwah·war, kwah·wor, or kwow·ur, Tongva ) [1] is a Trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun in the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... (55565) 2002 AW197 (also written: (55565) 2002 AW197) is a trans-Neptunian object. ... The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... 90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object, discovered by Michael Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Rabinowitz (Yale University) on November 14, 2003. ... Triton (trye-tun, Greek Τρίτων) is the planet Neptunes largest moon, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the planet itself was discovered. ... See also Lists of astronomical objects Categories: Astronomical objects ... Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ... Below is a list of solar system objects with diameter >500km: The Sun, a spectral class G2 star Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Jupiter Io Europa Ganymede Callisto complete list of Jupiters natural satellites Saturn Tethys Dione Rhea Titan Iapetus complete list of Saturns natural satellites Uranus Ariel... This is a list of solar system objects by radius, in decreasing order. ... This is a list of Solar system objects by mass, in decreasing order. ... Pronunciation of Centaurs, Kuiper Belt Objects, and other planetoids of the outer solar system Pronunciation key ... The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which is part of the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) along with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO). ... This diagram shows the presumed distance of the Oort cloud compared to the rest of the solar system. ...

Minor planets, or planetoids are minor bodies of the Solar system orbiting the Sun (or of other planetary systems orbiting other stars) that are larger than meteoroids (the largest of which might be taken to be around 10 meters or so across) but smaller than major planets (Mercury having a... Vulcanoids are hypothetical asteroids that may orbit in a dynamically stable zone between 0. ... The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system falling roughly between the planets Mars and Jupiter where the greatest concentration of asteroid orbits can be found. ... Near-Earth objects (NEO) are asteroids, comets and large meteoroids whose orbit intersects Earths orbit and which may therefore pose a collision danger. ... Image of the Trojan asteroids in front of and behind Jupiter along its orbital path. ... The centaurs are a class of icy planetoids that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, named after the mythical race of centaurs. ... A trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is any object in the solar system which orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune. ... Damocloids are asteroids such as 5335 Damocles and (16746) 1996 PW that have long-period highly eccentric orbits typical of periodic comets such as 1P/Halley, but without showing a cometary coma or tail. ... Photo of the comet Hale-Bopp above a tree. ... Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... This image is an artists rendering of the Oort cloud and the Kuiper Belt. ... 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl An asteroid moon is an asteroid that orbits another asteroid. ... Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ... This is a list of numbered asteroids, in sequential order. ... This page alphabetically lists the first thousand asteroids to be numbered, which are mostly in the main belt. ...