Subj : Our Solar System is facinating
To   : Charles Pierson
From : August Abolins
Date : Fri Nov 06 2020 15:53:54

On 05/11/2020 10:56 p.m., Charles Pierson : August Abolins wrote:


 AA>> I am reading that centaurs are small planetary systems
 AA>> that contain asteroids and dwarfs.

 CP> "Centaurs are minor planets believed to have originated in
 CP> the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system."

 CP> Not systems.

My first hunt for info was just from the first page google results
and the initial summaries.  Using the smartphone (tiny 2x2") screen,
I was not interested to go further.

I have not found anything that describes the apparent discrepancy of
the two names taken from mythology when a centaur is generally some
large monster and a dwarf is a smaller being.  Maybe the astronomers
discovered centaurs first? And then when it came time for another
term for the newly found larger objects - oops, they only had
"dwarf" available?

Consider my BlackBerry 2x2" a Centaur. Your smartphone is probably a
dwarf. :)






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