What are Scattered Disc Objects?
Scattered Disc Objects are among the most distant and cold objects in the solar system. They are located between 35 and as much as 1000 AU from the Sun. With eccentricities as high as 55 degrees, some Scattered Disc Objects travel as far “vertical” relative to the plane of the ecliptic as they do “horizontal”. Unlike most other objects in the solar system, such as the planets and most asteroids, Scattered Disc Objects have highly inclined and eccentric orbits, with circular orbits being the exception rather than the norm. The largest of Scattered Disc Objects is Eris, whose discovery in 2003 precipitated the formal defining of the word “planet” and the demotion of Pluto from the planet classification. Eris is classified as a dwarf planet along with Pluto, which it exceeds in size and mass, and Ceres, previously considered the largest asteroid. Scattered Disc Objects are considered a subset of trans-Neptunian objects, which is an umbrella term used to refer to any body beyond the orbit
