AS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Asteroid Belt
Document Summary
Atoms in our body from the nebula where the sun and its planet formed. Nebula contains hydrogen, interstellar dust, and small amounts of heavier atoms. Solar nebular theory is the main theory of formation of the solar system. Kuiper belt and oort cloud are homes of comets. All planet orbit the sun in the same direction counter clockwise except venus and uranus. All orbits lie in nearly the same plane. Almost all planets have nearly circular orbits except mercury. Most moon orbit their planet in the same direction. Categories of planets: terrestrial which is rocky, inner, small, and few moons, jovian which is gaseous, large, rings, and many moons, inner planets have greater density than outer planet. Inner moons have fewer moons than outer planets. Asteroids and comets are important parts of the solar system lying between mars and. Comets follow elliptical orbits or parabolic orbits passing close to the sun once.
