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Exploring the Trans-Neptunian Solar System (1998) / Chapter Skim
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Glossary
Pages 46-48

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 46...
... The nature of the Centaurs' orbits indicates relatively recent arrival at their present positions, leading scientists to theorize that Centaurs are migrated Kuiper Belt objects. CHNOPS Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur: the key elements of living organisms.
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From page 47...
... Material unit A generic term used in place of rock unit, sediment, formation, and so on when the exact geological nature of a three-dimensional body of material is unknown. Mutual events A series of occultations and transits in which a number of celestial bodies form apparent alignments along an observer's line of sight.
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From page 48...
... Tholin the reddish tarlike organic residue created in simulations of the action of ultraviolet radiation on gases typically found in planetary environments. Tidal heating The internal heating of a planetary body due to friction caused by the differential gravitational effect of an external body on the mass in question.
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Key Terms

  • planetary body
  • retrograde motion
  • planetary atmosphere
  • celestial body
  • geological processes

  • body due
  • seasonal cycle
  • orbital motion
  • external origin
  • outer solar

  • plate tectonics
  • indicates relatively
  • low albedos
  • heat causes
  • roughly circular

  • ultraviolet radiation
  • internal heating
  • semimajor axes
  • ambient heat
  • fluvial erosion

  • orbital geometry
  • carbonaceous chondrite
  • organic residue
  • extremely complex
  • gravitational effect

  • molecular masses
  • significant mineralogical
  • residue created
  • orbital eccentricity
  • celestial bodies


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