The Scattered Disc

The Scattered Disc

The scattered disk is a region that stretches far beyond the main part of the Kuiper Belt. It is home to objects that have been scattered by Neptune into orbits that are highly elliptical and highly inclined to the plane of the planets.

The inner edge of the Kuiper Belt begins at the orbit of Neptune, at about 30 AU from the Sun. (One AU, or astronomical unit, is the distance from Earth to the Sun.) The inner, main region of the Kuiper Belt ends around 50 AU from the Sun. Pluto’s 248-year-long, oval-shaped orbit can take it as close as 30 AU and as far as 49.3 AU from the Sun. Some claim an extended area for the Kuiper Belt, while others define that extended region beyond 50 AU as the Scattered Disc region.

ERIS:

NASA posts “January 8, 2005: Scientists announce they have discovered a Pluto-sized world billions of miles beyond the orbit of Neptune. They nickname the tiny world Xena after a fictional television character. The discovery reignites a debate about the definition of a planet.”

More to Come