scattered disc object

plural scattered disc objects · alternative scattered-disc object · alternative scattered disk object · alternative scattered-disk object

1. astronomyAny trans-Neptunian object whose orbit is wholly within the scattered disc.

   Scattered disc objects typically have highly eccentric orbits which can be inclined up to 40° relative to the orbital plane of the inner solar system.

   4 more examples

   Short-period comets (those with periods up to 200 years) are thought to be scattered disc objects perturbed from their orbits towards the inner solar system by the gravitational pull of Neptune.

   This conclusion means that the first scattered disc object, 1996 TL₆₆, was not unique, it was just the harbinger of a much larger population of objects waiting to be discovered. More scattered disc objects have since been found but it may be some time before this population can be mapped in detail.

   2001, John Davies, Beyond Pluto, Cambridge University Press, page 111

   Two of the first scattered disc objects (SDO) to be recognised are 1995 TL8 (at 53 AU from the Sun) and 1996 TL66 (at 83 AU).[…]One of the major scattered disc objects is Eris (2003 UB313, previously known as Xena).

   2009, John Wilkinson, Probing the New Solar System, CSIRO Publishing, page 270

   2006[…]The International Astronomical Union reclassifies Pluto as a dwarf planet, together with the scattered disc object Eris and the asteroid Ceres.

   2010, David Leverington, “Milestones in the Development of Astrophysics and Planetary Science”, in Stephen B. Johnson, editor, Space Exploration and Humanity: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, page 17

   Synonyms: SDO, scattered Kuiper belt object