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Planetoid pairs reveal "a kinder, gentler Neptune," according to new research that leaves little doubt about how Neptune gently swept a class of planetoid pairs into the outer solar system. The study focused on a type of loosely bound pairs of planetoids in the outer reaches of our solar system that scientists say were likely shepherded by Neptune’s gravitational nudges into their current orbits in the distant Kuiper Belt.
This is an artist’s conception of a loosely tethered, binary planetoid pair like those studied.Image credit: Gemini Observatoryy/AURA, artwork by Joy Pollard
