All Topics  
Small solar system body

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Small solar system body
 
 
  Topics Small solar system body Topic Home

Small Solar System Body (SSSB) is a term defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy....
 to describe objects in the Solar System
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 that are neither planet
Planet

A planet , as 2006 definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting a star or Stellar evolution#Stellar remnants that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared the neighbourhood of planetesimals....
s or dwarf planet
Dwarf planet

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not Clearing the neighbourhood of planetesimals and is not a natural satellite....
s:

This encompasses all minor planet
Minor planet

An asteroid group or minor planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid....
s other than those reclassified as dwarf planet
Dwarf planet

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not Clearing the neighbourhood of planetesimals and is not a natural satellite....
s, i.e.:

It is not presently clear whether a lower size bound will be established as part of the definition of Small Solar System Bodies in the future, or if it will encompass all material down to the level of meteoroid
Meteoroid

A meteoroid is a small sand to boulder sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or commonly a "shooting star" or "falling star"....
s, the smallest macroscopic bodies in orbit around the Sun.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Small solar system body'
Start a new discussion about 'Small solar system body'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


951 Gaspra
Small Solar System Body (SSSB) is a term defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy....
 to describe objects in the Solar System
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 that are neither planet
Planet

A planet , as 2006 definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting a star or Stellar evolution#Stellar remnants that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared the neighbourhood of planetesimals....
s or dwarf planet
Dwarf planet

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not Clearing the neighbourhood of planetesimals and is not a natural satellite....
s:

This encompasses all minor planet
Minor planet

An asteroid group or minor planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid....
s other than those reclassified as dwarf planet
Dwarf planet

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not Clearing the neighbourhood of planetesimals and is not a natural satellite....
s, i.e.:
  • the classical asteroid
    Asteroid

    Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
    s, with the exception of Ceres;
  • the centaurs and Neptune trojan
    Neptune Trojan

    As of May 2008, there are six known Neptune trojans which have the same orbital period as Neptune. They lie in the elongated, curved region around the L4 Lagrangian point 60? ahead of Neptune....
    s;
  • the trans-Neptunian object
    Trans-Neptunian object

    A trans-Neptunian object is any object in the solar system that orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune . The Kuiper belt, scattered disk, and Oort cloud are three divisions of this volume of space....
    s, with the exception of Pluto
    Pluto

    Pluto , Minor planet names Pluto, is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun....
    , Haumea, Makemake and Eris
    Eris (dwarf planet)

    'Eris' , Minor planet names '136199 Eris', is the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest body known to orbit the Sun directly....
    ;
  • all comet
    Comet

    A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
    s.


Thetransneptunians 73au
It is not presently clear whether a lower size bound will be established as part of the definition of Small Solar System Bodies in the future, or if it will encompass all material down to the level of meteoroid
Meteoroid

A meteoroid is a small sand to boulder sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or commonly a "shooting star" or "falling star"....
s, the smallest macroscopic bodies in orbit around the Sun. (On a microscopic level there are even smaller objects such as interplanetary dust
Cosmic dust

Cosmic dust is a type of dust composed of particles in space which are a few molecules to 0.1 mm in size. Cosmic dust can be further distinguished by its astronomical location; for example: intergalactic dust, interstellar dust , interplanetary dust and circumplanetary dust ....
, particles of solar wind
Solar wind

The solar wind is a Electric current—a Plasma —ejected from the stellar atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with energies of about 1 electron volt....
 and free particles of hydrogen
Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
.)

Except for the largest which are in hydrostatic equilibrium, moons
Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called the primary. Technically, the term natural satellite could refer to a planet orbiting a star, or a dwarf galaxy orbiting a major galaxy, but it is normally synonymous with moon and used to identify non-artificial satellites...
 differ from Small Solar System Bodies not in size, but in their orbits. Moons' orbits are not centered around the Sun
Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
 but around other Solar System objects such as a planets, dwarf planet
Dwarf planet

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not Clearing the neighbourhood of planetesimals and is not a natural satellite....
s, and even Small Solar System Bodies themselves.

Some of the larger Small Solar System Bodies may be reclassified in future as dwarf planets, pending further examination to determine whether or not they are in hydrostatic equilibrium
Hydrostatic equilibrium

Hydrostatic equilibrium occurs when compression due to gravity is balanced by a pressure gradient which creates a pressure gradient force in the opposite direction....
.

The orbits of the vast majority of Small Solar System Bodies are located in two distinct areas, namely the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets....
 and the Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 Astronomical unit from the Sun....
. These two belts possess some internal structure related to perturbations by the major planets (particularly Jupiter
Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
 and Neptune
NEPTUNE

=Overview=The project, along with sister project, VENUS, offers a unique approach to ocean science. Traditionally, ocean scientists have relied on infrequent ship cruises or space-based satellites to carry out their research....
, respectively), and have fairly loosely defined boundaries. Other areas of the solar system also encompass small bodies in smaller concentrations. These include the near-earth asteroids, centaurs, comet
Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
s, and scattered disc
Scattered disc

The scattered disc is a distant region of the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy minor planets known as scattered disc objects ; a subset of the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects ....
 objects.

See also

  • Apollo asteroid
    Apollo asteroid

    The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth....
  • Main belt
    Asteroid belt

    The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets....
  • Centaur (minor planet)
  • Comet
    Comet

    A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
    s
  • Cybele asteroid
    Cybele asteroid

    Cybele asteroids are a group of asteroids in the main belt with a mean orbital radius between 3.27 astronomical unit and 3.7 AU, an Orbital eccentricity less than 0.3, and an inclination less than 25?....
    s
  • Hilda asteroids
  • Hungaria asteroid
    Hungaria family

    The Hungaria asteroids are a group of asteroids in the main belt that orbit the Sun between 1.78 and 2.00 astronomical unit. The asteroids typically have a low Orbital eccentricity and an inclination of 16 to 34 degrees....
    s
  • Kuiper belt
    Kuiper belt

    The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 Astronomical unit from the Sun....
  • List of lists of small solar system bodies
  • Meteoroid
    Meteoroid

    A meteoroid is a small sand to boulder sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or commonly a "shooting star" or "falling star"....
    s
  • Near-earth asteroids
  • Trojan asteroid
    Trojan asteroid

    The Jupiter Trojans, commonly called Trojans or Trojan asteroids, are a large group of objects that share the orbit of the planet Jupiter around the Sun....
    s
  • Trans-Neptunian objects
  • Vulcanoid asteroid
    Vulcanoid asteroid

    The vulcanoids are a hypothetical population of asteroids that may orbit the Sun in a dynamically stable zone inside the orbit of the planet Mercury ....