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Re: Most distant Solar System object detected


>Sorry, Ron, this is an old question I had that popped into mind on reading
>this BBC article.  My question actually was not related to the Kuiper Belt
>Objects, or those in resonance with Neptune, or thrown off by Neptune.
>(Sorry for the confusion)  I was referring to very large comets in the
>formative stages of our solar system being trapped in heliocentric orbit.

Their fate would fall into one of three categories.  They've either
impacted into another planet, or strayed too close to Jupiter and 
were ejected out of the solar system, or are still in orbit around
the Sun.  If their orbit is in the inner part of the solar system, then
they would have lost most of their volatiles and ices by now.
If they stayed in the outer part of the
solar system, then they would retain most of their volatiles, and we
already know these objects as Kuiper Belt objects.  

>Their melted ice may have provided the inner rocky planets with water.

Yes, if they impacted the planets.

>What about the gases associated with comets and the large planets?  Are they
>the same but in different proportions?

Different proportions.  Because of their smaller mass, they don't have
enough gravity to hold on to most of their gases.

Ron Baalke

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