The Minor Members are defined as being any other celestial body within a Solar System.
The largest group of celestial bodies in the Minor Members are small planetoids called asteroids. Next come comets, and then, with the greatest amount comes meteoroids.
Asteroid Facts
Largest Asteroid- named Ceres, with a diameter of 1003km(623M)
Smallest- named Hathor, with a diameter of 500m (1525ft)
Asteroids are small, almost miniversions of planets. They may perhaps be material that never formed into a planet, or pieces of one that disintegrated. There are large numbers of asteroids, all having orbits. So far, more than 2,000 orbits have been computed. The estimated total of asteroids well exceeds 40,000. That means less than twenty percent of the total orbits have been written down. Most do not have names. All most all have irregular bodies made of mainly ice with many smaller impact craters.
Comet Facts
Comets have long had an assosciation with change in leadership, and, after the Renaissance, with disaster. Their appearance is often foreboding to many people. Coments were first thought to have been sublunar and atmosphereic phenomenon, meaning they occured between the inside of the Moon's orbit and Earth's surface. However, many factors proved this to be false. One such was the fact that the comet's tail always pointed away from the Sun. Lately this has been proven to be the result of the pressure of light and solar winds on the microscopic particles in the comet's tail. The coment consists of four parts: nucleus, or the solid core that contains almost all of the matter in a comet; coma; halo; and tail. The nucleus has been found to contain water, ice, carbon dioxide, formaldethyde, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen, and the term "dirty snowball" is often penned to describe it, fairly accurately. A great distances from the sun, the comet has no tail, which is made out of ionized water. When the comet's orbit nears the Sun, the heat emitted melts some of the matter from the nucleus, and this matter is blown off by the solar winds and the speed of the comet's travelling, forming the brightly luminous tail. When a planet, such as Earth, disturb the comet's orbit, the planet can cause the comet to be come hyperbolic, and leave the system, presumably for ever. Planets passing through the comet's trail of leftovers expirience meteor showers through the collision of the cometary bits with the Earth's atmostphere. Matter is continuously being worn from the comet, through friction and close proximity to the Sun, and eventually a comet simply wears away, down to nothing.
Meteor Facts
meteorid- a meteoric particle travelling in space
meteor- the same particle lit through being in the Earth's atmosphere; visible as falling stars, usually burn up before becoming a
meteorite- any part of a meteor that reaches Earth's surface
Many meteors are cometary debris (described as "mini dirty snowballs") that burn up in Earth's atmosphere and never reach the meteorite stage. The large meteors that do reach Earth's surface are not often cometary in origin, and in fact have an extremely different origin of birth. They are, in reality, tiny asteroids that are made of iron and nickel or stone, and so, are capable of withstanding the intense heat of coming in contact with Earth's surface. The great pit in Arizona called the Arizona Meteor Crater, is result of a prehistoric collision of a asteroid-type meteor. The remains of the meteor are believed to be buried deep in the Earth's crust below the rim of the pit.
Face it, at one time or another, EVERY one has wondered "How EXACTLY was our Solar System created?" There are many different theories.
- Creation theory: The creation theory is the one I find most exceptable. You may not, but I'm a solid Christian and this just makes sense to me. Creation states that a being from a higher plane created the world and all that is in it. Go to the Bible for an in-depth analysis. Start in Genesis, Chap One, Verse One. "In the beginning..."
- Nebular hypothesis: The centrifugal force of a rapidly spinning disk of hot gases caused a ring of matter to condense into the planets, with the middle solidifying to form the ultra-hot sun, which, even now is still releasing the remaining heat from the initial formation.
-Tidal Theory: A passing star pulled dust and gas from our partially formed Sun, but as the star left the solar system, the matter remained, and eventually coalesced into planets. This theory is highly debatable and unlikely because in order for this to work, the star would have to have passed in astronomically impossible terms. And since the stars are so far apart, the chances that one would come even a thousand light years of our solar system are infintesimal. This theory is also unable to account for to large, angular movements of the planets.
-Collision theory: A theory that suggest that our Sun collided with another (possibly a twin) producing debris that would slowly form into planets. This theory is as unlikely as the Tidal theory, if not more, because of the same reasons.
-Protoplanet Hypothesis: 10 to 12 billion years ago a cloud of dust and gas with a high density core formed. Eventually, 5 to 6 billion years ago, the core collapsed, forming the protosun, and the small amount of matter remaining spun until clumps of matter formed into the protoplanets eventually evolving into the Solar System we have now.
There are many other theories, but those listed above are most often referred to or most supported. Still, none except the Creation theory explain why the planets move in such large, angular movements. Theories are being suggested more and more every day, and with every new observation, old theories are redefined or rejected, and new theories are formed. However, all scientists agree that the models all have to meet three requirements.
ONE: The theory must explain the dynamic (motions of the planets and Sun), physical, and chemial properities of the Solar System.
TWO: it has to explain the mechanisms for formation of planets from a contracting nebula.
THREE: There are nine important properties that the theory has to account for along with these other two requirements. The theory must also be explained in a way that is consistent with the estimated age of the Solar System (4.6 billion years)
1. All planets orbit around the sun in almost perfectly circular orbits, and all in planes very close to the plane of the ecliptic (the plane that holds Earth's orbit.)
2. The axis of the Sun's rotation is almost exactly perpendicular to the ecliptic. (It's 98* against the ecliptic.)
3. The planets all revolve around the Sun in the same direction, which is also the direction of the Sun's rotation.
4. The Sun possesses more than 99% of the mass of the total system.
5. The planets possess the preponderant angular momentum of the system. (The sun rotates slowly in relation to the revolution and rotation of the planets.)
6. With the exception of Venus and Uranus, the planets all rotate in a prograde direction, or, counterclockwise, around their axes.
7. Almost all of the planets' satellites revolve around their primaries in the same direction that the primary rotates on its axes.
8. A host of smaller objects, such as comets and meteoroids, often of low density, with elongated orbits, exist. The inclination of the orbits to the plane of the ecliptic varies widely.
9. There are two distinct types of planets with similar chemical compositions. Those close to the sun (terrestrial planets) are different from those further from the sun (jovian planets) with the exception of Pluto.
