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The informal phrase “outer Solar System” normally refers to the region of the giant planets and beyond, corresponding to distances from the Sun ≥5 AU. The outer Solar System thus also includes almost all comets during most of their orbital periods, as well as centaurs and objects in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. As a result of the low temperatures in this region, solid objects contain a much higher percentage of volatiles such as water and other ices than the rocky objects closer to the Sun.
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Irvine, W.M. (2014). Solar System, Outer. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_4012-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_4012-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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