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The scattered disc is still poorly understood: no model of the formation of the Kuiper belt and the scattered disc has yet been proposed that explains all their observed properties. [ 16 ] According to contemporary models, the scattered disc formed when Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) were "scattered" into eccentric and inclined orbits by ...
The Kuiper belt is distinct from the hypothesized Oort cloud, which is believed to be a thousand times more distant and mostly spherical. The objects within the Kuiper belt, together with the members of the scattered disc and any potential Hills cloud or Oort cloud objects, are collectively referred to as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). [21]
The orbits within the Kuiper belt are relatively stable, and so very few comets are thought to originate there. The scattered disc, however, is dynamically active, and is far more likely to be the place of origin for comets. [11] Comets pass from the scattered disc into the realm of the outer planets, becoming what are known as centaurs. [43]
Kuiper belt large belt, 43 to 64.5 AU; Scattered disc small group, 21.5 to 215 AU; Sednoid (inner Oort cloud objects) small group of four or more, high elliptical orbits, 47.8 to 80 AU; Extreme trans-Neptunian objects 150 to 250 AU; Hills cloud a large hypothetical circumstellar disc
The Kuiper belt, scattered disk, and Oort cloud are three conventional divisions of this volume of space. [1] [nb 1] As of April 2022, the catalog of minor planets contains 901 numbered TNOs. In addition, there are more than 3,000 unnumbered TNOs, which have been observed since 1993. [3] [4] [5]
Detached objects are one of four distinct dynamical classes of TNO; the other three classes are classical Kuiper-belt objects, resonant objects, and scattered-disc objects (SDO). [20] Sednoids also belong to detached objects. Detached objects generally have a perihelion distance greater than 40 AU, deterring strong interactions with Neptune ...
The scattered disc, which overlaps the Kuiper belt but extends out to near 500 AU, is thought to be the source of short-period comets. Scattered-disc objects are believed to have been perturbed into erratic orbits by the gravitational influence of Neptune's early outward migration. Most scattered disc objects have perihelia within the Kuiper ...
But while the asteroid belt is composed primarily of rock and metal, the Kuiper belt is composed largely of ices, such as methane, ammonia, and water. The objects within the Kuiper belt, together with the members of the scattered disc and any potential Hills cloud or Oort cloud objects, are collectively referred to as trans-Neptunian objects ...