What Gases Are Present in Dwarf Planets and Kuiper Belt Objects? (2024)

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In summary, the gas in the Kuiper Belt Objects is similar to the gas in gas giants, but the smaller objects don't have any gas to start with and so don't produce atmospheres. Objects smaller than that are too light to retain the gases even briefly and lose them directly to space.

  • #1

mikejr82

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I haven't got an answer to my last post but I've got another question.
What gasses are present in the dwarf planets and other larger kuiperbelt objects?Are they simmilar to the gasses in the gas giant?

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mgb_phys

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Kuiper belt objects are rocks, only the largest would hold onto any gas at all.
Neptune's moon Titan is probably a KBO that got caught - it has a very tiny atmosphere

  • #3

mikejr82

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thanks mgb_phys. So, if the larger bodies can hold on to gas, then what would happen to the gas if it was heated sufficiently to "de-frost" it? Would you expect to see something simmilar to Pluto when it slips inside Neptunes orbit (Very thin, unstable atmosphere)?

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mgb_phys

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So, if the larger bodies can hold on to gas, then what would happen to the gas if it was heated sufficiently to "de-frost" it?

It would boil off into space. The smaller objects don't have any gas to start with. Rocks don't come with gas - they rely on their gravity to pick up and hold onto any gas that is around.

Vanadium 50 said:

I think you mean Triton.

Oops - these Greek gods all sound alike!

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raknath

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Is it possible by a freak case, if the gravity of the sun closest to this body is strong enough, that the body could become a comet or an asteroid?

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mgb_phys

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They already are asteroids.
A comet is just an asteroid that approaches close to the sun, so yes one of these objects could be perturbed by the motion of some other nearby object and become a comet.
But it seems that the orbits in the kuiper belt are for some reason very stable, most comets are produced from a similair but much more distant belt of rocks - the Oort cloud.

  • #8

qraal

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mikejr82 said:

I haven't got an answer to my last post but I've got another question.
What gasses are present in the dwarf planets and other larger kuiperbelt objects?Are they simmilar to the gasses in the gas giant?

Spectroscopically some KBOs are dominated by nitrogen ice, others by methane ice, and some water or carbon dioxide ices. Neither of the last two have appreciable vapour pressures at the orbit of Neptune and beyond and so don't produce atmospheres on KBOs, but the other two do and so that's what the atmospheres of Triton, Pluto and probably Eris are dominated by. Objects smaller than that are too light to retain the gases even briefly and lose them directly to space.

Theoretically larger objects exist in the Opik-Oort Cloud, thrown out there by the formation and migration of Uranus and Neptune. Mars-to-Earth mass objects might still be out there and they should retain some of what is called the "Primary atmosphere", which is a mixture of hydrogen and helium grabbed straight from the Solar Nebula. The Inner Planets probably all briefly had Primary atmospheres, but lost them to the enhanced Solar-Wind phase of the Sun's early life.

1. What is a dwarf planet?

A dwarf planet is a celestial body that orbits the sun and has enough mass to be rounded by its own gravity, but is not large enough to clear its orbital path of other objects.

2. How many dwarf planets are in our solar system?

Currently, there are five recognized dwarf planets in our solar system: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

3. What is the difference between a dwarf planet and a regular planet?

The main difference between a dwarf planet and a regular planet is that a dwarf planet has not cleared its orbital path of other objects, while a regular planet has. Dwarf planets are also smaller in size compared to regular planets.

4. What is a K.B.O?

K.B.O stands for Kuiper Belt Object. It is a small body that orbits beyond the orbit of Neptune in the Kuiper Belt region of our solar system. Some K.B.O's, such as Pluto, are also considered to be dwarf planets.

5. How are dwarf planets and K.B.O's discovered?

Dwarf planets and K.B.O's are typically discovered through telescopes, specifically those that can detect objects in the Kuiper Belt. They can also be discovered through space missions, such as the New Horizons mission that discovered several new K.B.O's in 2015.

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                      What Gases Are Present in Dwarf Planets and Kuiper Belt Objects? (2024)

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