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How can a Centaur object eventually leave the solar system or collide with a planet?
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Small body
Asteroid Ida and its satellite, Dactyl, photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on August 28, 1993, from a distance of about 10,870 km (6,750 miles). Ida is about 56 km (35 miles) long and shows the irregular shape and impact craters characteristic of many asteroids. The Galileo image revealed that Ida is accompanied by a tiny companion about 1.5 km (1 mile) wide, the first proof that some asteroids have natural satellites.
Centaur objects travel in unstable orbits that cross the paths of the giant planets. Because these orbits are unstable, Centaurs are subject to the gravitational influence of these planets, which can lead to two primary outcomes:
- Ejection: A Centaur may be flung by a planet's gravity entirely out of the solar system.1
- Collision: A Centaur may collide with a planet.1
Additionally, these gravitational interactions can redirect Centaurs toward the inner solar system. Due to these processes, Centaurs have a relatively short "lifetime" in their current state, necessitating that the population be continually replenished by objects originating from the Kuiper belt.1