Teaser Pluto & Charon

<p><strong>Tekst: Noortje Sanders</strong></p>

<p><strong>Muziek: Sebastiaan Bax</strong></p>

<p><strong>Productie: Esther van Diepen</strong></p>

<p><strong>Dramaturgisch advies: Jesse de Vries</strong></p>

<p><strong>Mede mogelijk gemaakt door Gemeente Utrecht en het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.</strong></p>

<p>"<strong>Clearing the neighbourhood</strong>" around a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_body" title="Celestial body">celestial body</a>'s orbit describes the body becoming gravitationally dominant such that there are no other bodies of comparable size other than its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_satellite" title="Natural satellite">natural satellites</a> or those otherwise under its gravitational influence.</p>

<p>"Clearing the neighbourhood" is one of three necessary criteria for a celestial body to be considered a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet" title="Planet">planet</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System" title="Solar System">Solar System</a>, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_definition_of_planet" title="IAU definition of planet">the definition adopted in 2006</a> by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Astronomical_Union" title="International Astronomical Union">International Astronomical Union</a> (IAU).&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the end stages of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebular_hypothesis" title="Nebular hypothesis">planet formation</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet" title="Planet">planet</a>, as so defined, will have "cleared the neighbourhood" of its own orbital zone, i.e. removed other bodies of comparable size. A large body that meets the other criteria for a planet but has not cleared its neighbourhood is classified as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet" title="Dwarf planet">dwarf planet</a>. This includes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto" title="Pluto">Pluto</a>, whose orbit intersects with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune" title="Neptune">Neptune's</a> orbit and shares its orbital neighbourhood with many <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt" title="Kuiper belt">Kuiper belt</a> objects. The IAU's definition does not attach specific numbers or equations to this term, but all IAU-recognised planets have cleared their neighbourhoods to a much greater extent (by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_magnitude" title="Order of magnitude">orders of magnitude</a>) than any dwarf planet or candidate for dwarf planet.</p>