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Posted on 04/24/2007 10:54:57 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Our solar system may have an outer "edge" just outside the orbit of Pluto, astronomers announced recently. Their results suggest that early in the history of the solar system, some event stripped away most of the planet-building material beyond 50 times Earth's distrance from the sun. Lynne Allen and Gary Bernstein, of the University of Michigan, and Renu Malhotra of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory... searched 6 patches of sky, each about the size of the full moon, using a state-of-the-art electronic camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in the Chilean Andes... These observations, in 1998 and 1999, were sensitive enough to see a 160-kilometer (100-mile) Kuiper Belt Object to at least 65 AU. They discovered 24 new Kuiper Belt Objects, 9 of which are 160 kilometers or bigger, but again the most distant is near the outer limit of Pluto's orbit. This is the strongest evidence yet that more distant objects are missing.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
It's a Small Solar System After AllUntil recently our solar system appeared to have no end in sight. Astronomers had discovered that the space between Neptune and Pluto is full of Kuiper belt objects -- chunks of rock and ice left over from the formation of the solar system -- that seemed to continue as far as telescopes could explore... Perhaps early on, a rogue protoplanet broke free and took a bunch of the Kuiper belt objects with it, or a passing star stripped away our sun's outer kingdom. On the other hand, the edge might denote the original boundary of the primordial solar system. If so, astronomers have greatly overestimated the size of the gassy disk from which the planets coalesced.
by Kathy A. Svitil
04.01.2001
Mysterious deep-space object raises questions on Solar System’s origins
PhysOrg | December 13, 2005 | AFP
Posted on 12/14/2005 1:12:29 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1540338/posts
Comet’s course hints at mystery planet [ from 2001 ]
Govert Schilling | last updated February 5th, 2002 | Govert Schilling
Posted on 08/18/2006 5:36:59 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1686125/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=sedna
[OTOH...]
Giant Kuiper Belt planetoid Sedna may have formed far beyond Pluto
Physics Org (http://www.physorg.com/) | January 24, 2005 | Southwest Research Institute
Posted on 10/22/2005 4:05:39 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1507383/posts
[more, older]
Distant planetoid Sedna gives up more secrets
New Scientist | 4/15/05 | Maggie McKee
Posted on 04/16/2005 2:23:49 AM EDT by LibWhacker
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1384847/posts.
Distant Sedna Raises Possibility of Another Earth-Sized Planet in Our Solar System
Space.com | 3/16/04 | Robert Roy Britt
Posted on 03/18/2004 5:00:00 PM EST by LibWhacker
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1100694/posts
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Far out, man.
:’)
Maybe we should send Pelosi and Reid to check out the situation out there...
One way flight.
Note: this topic is from 04/24/2007.
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