AY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Terrestrial Planet

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: AY 101
• Professor: Raymond White

Document Summary

In this chapter we concluded our study of the solar system by focusing on its smallest objects, nding that these objects can have big consequences. In terms of composition, the dwarf planets pluto and eris-along with other similar objects-are essentially comets of unusually large size: collisions not only bring meteorites and leave impact craters but also can profoundly affect life on. An impact probably wiped out the dinosaurs, and future impacts pose a threat that we cannot ignore. What are asteroids like: asteroids are rocky leftovers from the era of planetary formation. Most are small, and despite their enormous numbers their total mass is less than that of any terrestrial planet. Why is there an asteroid belt: the asteroid belt is all that remains of the swarm of planetesimals that once lay between mars and. Orbital resonances nudged orbits in this region, leading to collisions and gradually ejecting material, so that the region lost most of its original mass.