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== Naming conventions ==
== Naming conventions ==
A significant number of [[Astronomy|astronomers]] today insist that all trans-Neptunian objects, regardless of whether Neptune has any gravitational influence upon them, should be called [[Kuiper belt]] objects.<ref name=Jewitt>Jewitt, David. "[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/kb.html Kuiper Belt]." University of Hawaii, n.d. Accessed June 20, 2008.</ref><ref name=Johnston>Johnston, William Robert. "[http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/tnos.html Trans-Neptunian Objects]." October 1, 2007. Accessed June 24, 2008.</ref>But today, an increasing number of astronomers distinguish the Kuiper belt from other trans-Neptunian regions, primarily using orbital characteristics as the criterion for this distinction.<ref name=planetsoc2>"[http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/trans_neptunian_objects/facts.html Types of Trans-Neptunian Objects]." The Planetary Society, n.d. Accessed June 24, 2008.</ref>
A significant number of [[Astronomy|astronomers]] today insist that all trans-Neptunian objects, regardless of whether Neptune has any gravitational influence upon them, should be called [[Kuiper belt]] objects.<ref name=Jewitt>Jewitt, David. "[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/kb.html Kuiper Belt]." University of Hawaii, n.d. Accessed June 20, 2008.</ref><ref name=Johnston>Johnston, William Robert. "[http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/tnos.html Trans-Neptunian Objects]." October 1, 2007. Accessed June 24, 2008.</ref> But today, an increasing number of astronomers distinguish the Kuiper belt from other trans-Neptunian regions, primarily using orbital characteristics as the criterion for this distinction.<ref name=planetsoc2>"[http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/trans_neptunian_objects/facts.html Types of Trans-Neptunian Objects]." The Planetary Society, n.d. Accessed June 24, 2008.</ref>
== Primary theoretical considerations ==
== Primary theoretical considerations ==
Since 1951, when [[Gerard P. Kuiper]] published his original hypothesis concerning non-accreted icy remnants of the [[nebula hypothesis|solar nebula]], trans-Neptunian objects, by whatever name, have been held to be the source of [[comets]], of periods long or short.
Since 1951, when [[Gerard P. Kuiper]] published his original hypothesis concerning non-accreted icy remnants of the [[nebula hypothesis|solar nebula]], trans-Neptunian objects, by whatever name, have been held to be the source of [[comets]], of periods long or short.
=== Origins ===
=== Origins ===
''Conventional'' theory supposes all these objects (except for the hypothetical [[Nemesis(Star)|Nemesis]]) to be remnants of the formation of the [[solar system]] that could not accrete into planets. Most of these objects, except for the most distant objects in the [[scattered disk]], moved into their present orbits under the gravitational influence of [[Neptune]]. So says conventional theory.
[[File:Frozen carbon monoxide pluto.jpg|thumb|350px|right|False-color image of Pluto showing frozen lake of [[carbon monoxide]] (green) in the western lobe of Tombaugh Regio (the "heart shape").]]The [[Hydroplate Theory]] suggests these objects are the heaviest component of a vast quantity of [[water]], rock and mud – amounting to as much as four percent of the original mass of the [[Earth]] – that escaped from Earth during the [[Great Flood]]. These objects formed near the Earth. Then, under the influence of the [[Sun]], they out-gassed vast amounts of water vapor (and perhaps of thermolyzed [[hydrogen]] and/or [[oxygen]] also) and thus propelled themselves into ever-higher orbits. Most of these objects likely passed close to [[Jupiter]] (largest of the [[gas giant]]s) and got a slingshot-like [[gravity]] boost to the orbits they now travel in.
[[Pluto]], the "king of the [[Kuiper Belt]]," typifies the lot. Its greatly eccentric and significantly inclined [[orbit]] carries it inside the orbit of [[Neptune]] at its closest approach to the Sun ([[apsis|perihelion]]). In 2015, the rocket probe ''[[New Horizons]]'' passed through the Plutonian system and photographed Pluto and its moons extensively. Among other findings: a lake of frozen [[carbon monoxide]] in the western "lobe" of "Tombaugh's Heart," a great heart-shaped contiguous plain. How did this carbon monoxide form? It could only have formed from the burning of [[wood]] in a confined space. Walter T. Brown, Jr., originator of the Hydroplate Theory, suggests much of the mass of Pluto originally consisted of uprooted trees and shrubs. The heat of accretion, and the presence of hydrolyzed hydrogen and oxygen, started a fire beneath the surface. The confined space produced carbon monoxide, not [[carbon dioxide]]. Eventually this carbon monoxide broke through to the surface, condensed, fell as rain onto Tombaugh's Heart, then froze.
[[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] has the photograph of Pluto showing the frozen carbon monoxide lake. But to date they have never even tried to explain it.
In addition to this latest finding, the ''arguments of perihelion'' of the twelve largest trans-Neptunian objects, including Pluto, are ''nearly identical.'' Megan Schwamb, the astronomer who noticed this remarkable confluence of findings, flatly rejected mere coincidence in a conversation she had with Brown. She said ''any theory of the origin of trans-Neptunian objects must explain this tight grouping of arguments of perihelion.''
== Classes of trans-Neptunian objects ==
== Classes of trans-Neptunian objects ==
* The [[scattered disk]], containing objects having [[apsis|perihelia]] of 30 AU or greater and semi-major axes of 50 AU or greater.<ref name=planetsoc2/>
* The [[scattered disk]], containing objects having [[apsis|perihelia]] of 30 AU or greater and semi-major axes of 50 AU or greater.<ref name=planetsoc2/>
* The [[Oort Cloud]], the hypothetical and probably factitious sphere of icy objects held to be the source of long-period comets<ref name=planetsoc2/>
* The [[Oort Cloud]], the hypothetical and probably factitious sphere of icy objects held to be the source of long-period comets<ref name=planetsoc2/>
* [[Nemesis (star)|Nemesis]], the hypothetical and probably factitious red or brown dwarf [[star]] that is supposed to enter the Oort cloud and perturb it once every 26 million years.
* [[Nemesis(Star)|Nemesis]], the hypothetical and probably factitious red or brown dwarf [[star]] that is supposed to enter the Oort cloud and perturb it once every 26 million years.
== Discovery and observation ==
== Discovery and observation ==
* 1993 RO, the next plutino discovered after Pluto<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/trans-neptunian-object</ref>
* 1993 RO, the next plutino discovered after Pluto<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/trans-neptunian-object</ref>
The [[New Horizons mission|New Horizons]] rocket probe, now on its way to [[Pluto]], will be the first rocket probe to study a Trans-Neptunian object. Mission planners hope to steer the probe to study at least two other Kuiper belt objects in addition to Pluto.
The [[New Horizons mission|New Horizons]] rocket probe, passed through the Plutonian system in June 2015. It thus became the first rocket probe to study a Trans-Neptunian object. Mission planners hope to steer the probe to study at least two other Kuiper belt objects in addition to Pluto.
== References ==
== References ==