What does the mass disparity between the closer Pluto and the more distant, heavier Eris imply?
Answer
It implies that the distribution of material in the early solar nebula was non-uniform.
The observation that Pluto orbits closer to the Sun (around 30 AU) than Eris, yet Eris is discovered to be more massive, presents an important clue about solar system formation. This differing density gradient suggests that the initial condensation of material within the solar nebula—the cloud of gas and dust that formed the planets—was not homogenous or uniform across the entire disk. The difference implies that the initial raw materials available for accretion varied significantly based on the distance from the nascent Sun, leading to different outcomes for massive bodies like Pluto and Eris.
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