Difference between revisions 3758692 and 3758796 on simplewiki

[[File:Planets2008.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The [[Sun]], [[planet]]s and [[dwarf planet]]s of the Solar System. Compared with each other, the sizes are correct but the distances are not.]]
(contracted; show full)

=== Scattered disc and Eris ===
The [[scattered disc]] (or scattered disk) is a distant part of the Solar System. The area has small icy minor planets known as [[scattered disc objects]] (SDOs). The part of the scattered disc closest to the 
sSun is in an area of space called the Kuiper belt. The first SDO was found in 1995 by [[Spacewatch]].

The scattered disk is still not understood well. Astronomers believe that it was created when objects in the Kuiper belt were "scattered" by the gravity of the outer planets, mainly Neptune. Unlike most objects in the Solar System which move in a round and flat path, the scattered disc is harder to predict. SDOs can often move almost as much in a [[wikt:vertical|up and down]] direction as they do in a [[wikt:horizontal|side to side]] direction.

Eris (68 AU) is the largest known scattered disc object. There has been a debate on weather or not it should be described as a planet. This is because it is 25% larger than Pluto and it is around the same distance across. It is the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System. It has one moon, [[Dysnomia (moon)|Dysnomia]]. Eris and Pluto have a similar orbit.