NATS 1570 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Solar Wind
15 Apr 2020
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Document Summary
Beyond the giant planets we find pluto (dwarf planet) We also find the kuiper belt and oort cloud. These are both reservoirs of icy rock y bodies and the likely source of comets. These are speculated to be the remnants of the formation of the solar system and our sun respectively. We also see the heliopause which is used to define the "edge" of the solar system. Pluto is a dwarf planet on the outer edge of the solar system it is more similar in composition to the icy moons like callisto or triton. Its orbit as well is much more elliptical than the other planets. It actually comes closer than neptune at its closest approach, and is almost twice as far at the furthest point. Sometimes closer to the sun than neptune. The moon charon of pluto is actually about 20% the mass of pluto. For this reason,the center of gravity of this system is outside pluto.
