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Kuiper belt |
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Kuiper belt: see comet comet [Gr.,=longhaired], a small celestial body consisting mostly of dust and gases that moves in an elongated elliptical or nearly parabolic orbit around the sun. Comets visible from the earth can be seen for periods ranging from a few days to several months. ..... Click the link for more information. ; Kuiper, Gerard Peter Kuiper, Gerard Peter or Gerrit Pieter ..... Click the link for more information. . Kuiper beltor Edgeworth-Kuiper beltDisk-shaped belt of billions of small icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond the orbit of Neptune, mostly at distances 30–50 times Earth's distance from the Sun. Gerard Peter Kuiper (1905–73) proposed the existence of this large flattened distribution of objects in 1951 in connection with his theory of the origin of the solar system (see solar nebula). Kenneth Edgeworth (1880–1972) independently had made similar proposals in 1943 and 1949. Whether the belt extends thinly as far as the Oort cloud is not known. Gravitational disturbances by Neptune of objects in the belt are thought to be the origin of most short-period comets. The first Kuiper belt object was discovered in 1992; the orbit, icy composition, and diminutive size of Pluto qualify this body, formerly considered a planet, as a giant Kuiper belt object. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Agnor's theory builds on recent studies showing that about 10 percent of Kuiper belt bodies, including Pluto, have satellites. Most previously observed disks have been cool and lie much farther from their parent stars, in the region that corresponds in the solar system to the locale of Pluto and the reservoir of comets known as the Kuiper belt. The craft will explore Pluto and its large moon, Charon, and, continuing on a trajectory away from the sun, will probe additional icy and rocky bodies of the Kuiper Belt as part of a possible extended mission. |
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Kuiper belt
