Pluto Perspectives, Part 2 - Eccentricity

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MeteorWayne

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We continue on.<br />Here the 27 largest solar system objects so far are sorted by eccentricity.<br />For those that might not know, this is a number that defines how circular an orbit is.<br />A perfect circle is 0.00, a parabola (at the edge of being in the gravity well of the sun) is 1.00.<br /><br />Edit: {I should point out that all orbital elements: eccentricity, inclination, period, "a" (semimajor axis of the ellitical orbit), etc., are osculating elements. That means that they change as the bodies in the solar system interact gravitationally with each other. There are other factors than gravity, but they are extremely small. So, in a sense, the precise value of any of these is a snapshot in time. The changes are not large enough to affect the grouping of the objects in these lists to any large degree. }End edit<br /><br /><br />The first column is the name, the second is the class I defined in Part 1. The 3rd is the eccentricity. The value for 2000 CR105 has not been determined yet.<br /><br />Venus LT 0.01<br />Neptune IG 0.01<br />Earth LT 0.02<br />Quaoar CK 0.03<br />Uranus IG 0.05<br />Jupiter GG 0.05<br />Varuna hQB 0.05<br />Saturn GG 0.06<br />Ceres A 0.08<br />Buffy hQB 0.08<br />Vesta A 0.09<br />Mars ST 0.09<br />--------------------------------------------------------------------<br />Chaos QB 0.10<br />2002 AW197 hQB 0.13<br />2002 UX25 QB 0.14<br />2005 FY9 hQB 0.16<br />Santa hQB 0.18<br />Mercury ST 0.21<br />Pallas A 0.23<br />----------------------------------------------<br />Ixion PL 0.24<br />Pluto PL 0.25<br />Orcus PL 0.27<br />Huya PL 0.28<br />----------------------------------------------<br />Xena SD 0.44<br />1996 TL66 SD 0.58<br />Sedna SD 0.86<br />2000 CR105 SD ??<br /><br />Discussion:<br /><br />As can be seen above, it kind of naturally sorts into groups. I've drawn one line after Mars, since it's the last planet before we get into the fuzzy zone.<br />Notice that Quaoar, Varuna, Ceres, Buffy, and Vesta all have very circular orbits. Quaoar, Varuna, a <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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tony873004

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Pluto's large eccentricity is probably due to Neptune capturing it into the 3:2 resonance. Pluto may have started out in a circular orbit beyond Neptune. Then as Neptune migrated out, its 3:2 exterior resonance swept past Pluto, capturing Pluto, causing it to migrate out and pumping eccentricity into its orbit as well. This is know as the Resonant Capture Theory. Pluto's eccentricity gives clues as to how fast Neptune migrated, and where Pluto was originally before being captured into resonance.
 
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MeteorWayne

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As is the case for the other Plutinos <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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