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Centaur ( planetoid) The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet.... Dwarf planet ...
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PLANETOIDA planetoid is a very small planet. The larger asteroids are sometimes called planetoids. PLANETOLOGIST A planetologist is an astronomer who studies the physical features of planets.
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Planetoid. Another name for an asteroid or minor planet. Planisphere. A circular map of the stars covered by a rotating mask that has a window or opening in it. The map and mask are the same size and have time and date markings on the outside.
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The planetoid is usually even colder, because it approaches the Sun this closely only briefly during its 10,500 year orbit around the Sun. At its most distant, "Sedna" is 130 billion kilometers (84 billion miles) from the Sun.
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The distant planetoid Sedna appears to be covered in a tar-like sludge that gives it a distinctly red hue, a new study reveals. The findings suggests the dark crust was baked-on by the Sun and has been untouched by other objects for millions of years.
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The larger of such bodies are sometimes called principal planets to distinguish them from asteroids, planetoids, or minor planets, which are comparatively very small. The larger planets are accompanied by satellites, such as the moon.
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In 1977, Charles Kowal discovered 2060 Chiron, an icy planetoid with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus. He used a blink comparator; the same device that had allowed Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto nearly 50 years before.
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Imagine that you are at the top of a mountain on an otherwise smooth surfaced and perfectly round planetoid with no atmosphere. You are thousands of feet above the normal surface level and there are no other tall objects on the planetoid.
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Recent spectroscopic infrared light studies of the strange planetoid's surface indicate Sedna has dodged significant bullets. The data also shows Sedna may lack large amounts of water or methane ice.
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dynamically interesting orbits or groups of objects with similar orbital characteristics, generally use the term minor planet, whereas those who study the physical properties of such objects usually refer to them as asteroids. The term planetoid is ...
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See also: Planet, Orbit, Earth, Asteroid, Time
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