Kuiper belt
The explored area is a very cold and dark region of the solar system called the Kuiper belt. Its importance lies in the fact that it contains the keys to understanding how the solar system formed.
Therefore, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the Kuiper belt, its characteristics and origin.
What is the Kuiper belt?
The Kuiper belt is a doughnut-shaped region (known in geometry as a torus) containing millions of small frozen solid objects. These objects are collectively known as Kuiper belt objects.
This is a region filled with millions of celestial bodies that could form planets, however Neptune's gravity has caused distortions in this space. Preventing these small celestial bodies from joining together to form a large planet.
In this sense, the Kuiper Belt bears some similarities to the major asteroids in the Solar System orbiting Jupiter.
The most famous of the celestial objects found in the Kuiper Belt is the dwarf planet Pluto. Although a new dwarf planet (Eris) of similar size was recently discovered in the Kuiper Belt, it is the largest celestial body in the Kuiper Belt.
To this day, the Kuiper Belt is the true frontier of space where it is little known and explored. It should be noted that although Pluto was discovered in 1930, the first asteroid in this region of the Solar System was discovered in 1992, although Neptune was predicted to have a belt of icy bodies outside the planet.
The study and knowledge of the Kuiper Belt is essential to understanding the origin and formation of the Solar System.
Constitution of the Kuiper Belt
Currently, they are classified in the Kuiper belt more than 2.000 celestial bodies, but they represent only a small part of the total number of celestial bodies in this region of the solar system.
The Kuiper belt elements are comets and asteroids. Although they are similar, comets and asteroids have different compositions. Comets are celestial bodies made of dust, rocks, and ice (frozen gas), while asteroids are made of rocks and metals. These celestial bodies are remnants of the formation of the solar system.
Many of the objects that make up the Kuiper Belt have satellites orbiting them, or binaries made up of two bodies of equal size and orbiting a point (common center of mass). Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Quaoar are some of the objects with moons in the Kuiper Belt.
At present, the total mass of the celestial bodies that make up the Kuiper belt is only 10% of the mass of the Earth. However, the original matter in the Kuiper Belt is believed to be 7 to 10 times the mass of Earth. It comes from 4 giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune).
Causes of reduced mass loss
Elements in the Kuiper Belt are called KBOs. The loss of mass in this frozen sky belt is due to the erosion and destruction of the Kuiper belt. The tiny comets and asteroids that make it up collide and break up into tiny KBOs and dust, which are blown out or into the Solar System by the solar wind.
As the Kuiper Belt slowly erodes, this region of the Solar System is thought to be the origin of comets. Another region of origin for comets is the Oort cloud.
Comets originating in the Kuiper Belt are produced when debris from KBO collisions is pulled into the Solar System by Neptune's gravity. Comets originating in the Kuiper Belt are produced when debris from KBO collisions is pulled into the Solar System by Neptune's gravity. On their way to the Sun, these tiny fragments are trapped in a tiny orbit by Jupiter's gravity.
It did not last more than 20 years. They are called short-period comets or comets of the Jupiter family.
Where is it located?
As we have already mentioned, the Kuiper belt is located in the outermost region of the solar system, the orbit of Pluto. It is one of the largest regions in the solar system. The closest edge of the Kuiper Belt is at the orbit of Neptune, about 30 AU.
(AU is the astronomical unit of distance equal to 150 million km, which is roughly the distance between Earth and the Sun), and the Kuiper Belt is about 50 AU from the Sun.
It partially overlaps the Kuiper Belt and extends a region called the Scattering Disk that extends 1000 AU from the Sun. The Kuiper belt should not be confused with the Oort cloud. The Oort Cloud is found in the farthest part of the Solar System, estimated to be between 2000 and 5000 AU from the Sun.
It also contains frozen objects such as the spherical Kuiper belt. It is like a large shell, containing all the planets and celestial bodies of the Solar System, including the Sun and the Kuiper Belt. Although its existence has been predicted, it has not been directly observed.
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