KUIPER BELT OBJECTS Rosemary R.

What Is The Kuiper Belt?  The Kuiper Belt is a disc-shaped region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.  Found by Gerard Kuiper  It contains debris from the early creation of the solar system.  It contains short-period comets.

Pluto  It was named by an 11-year-old girl who suggested the name to her grandfather  About 2/3 of the diameter of Earth’s moon  248-year-long elliptical orbit  Can travel as far as 49.3 AUs from the Sun  A thin atmosphere is created around it when it gets close to the sun in its orbit because its surface ices begin to thaw  It has 4 moons, but the largest is named Charon. Charon is so large that sometimes they are referred to as a double dwarf planet system. Pluto and its four moons

Eris  Discovered in January 2005 by Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz  Named after the Greek goddess of discord and strife  Eris was what provoked the debate on whether or not Pluto should be classified as a planet. Since Eris is slightly bigger than Pluto, they were both classified as dwarf planets  Largest dwarf planet in the solar system  Has a diameter between 2,400 and 3,000 kilometers  Has an orbital period of years  It has one satellite named Dysnomia

Object 1993 SC  One of the brightest Kuiper Belt objects found so far  34 AU from the Sun  May travel as far as 48 AU (because of its eccentricity)  300 kilometer diameter (186 miles)  About a quarter of the size of Charon

Quaoar  It is the largest object that has been found in the solar system since the discovery of Pluto  It is about 42 AU away from us on Earth  It has a nearly circular orbit  About 1250 kilometers in diameter  Discovered in 2002  Made of rock and ice

Orcus  680 mile diameter (about half the size of Pluto)  Discovered in February 2004 by Chad Trujillo, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz  Orbital distance varies from 30.9 to 48.1 AUs  Opposite of Pluto in its orbit but has the same orbital period  Considered to be a “plutino” because it goes around the sun twice for every three times Neptune does

Bibliography  "Planets: Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud: Overview." Solar System Exploration. NASA. Web. 04 Jan  "Kuiper Belt." Map. The Enterprise Mission. Mike Bara. Web. 04 Jan  Fitzsimmons, Alan, Iwan Williams, and Donal O'Ceallaigh. Object 1993 SC Photograph. The Kuiper Belt. Calvin J. Hamilton. Web. 4 Jan  "Planets: Dwarf Planets: Pluto: Overview." Solar System Exploration. NASA. Web. 09 Jan  Pluto and Its Moons Photograph. Planets: Dwarf Planets: Pluto: Overview. NASA. Web  Hamilton, Calvin J. "Kuiper Belt Objects." Views of the Solar System. Web. 04 Jan  Trujillo, Chad. "Quaoar." Homepage of Chad Trujillo. Web. 04 Jan  Hamilton, Calvin J. Quaoar's Orbit. Photograph. Views of the Solar System. Web. 4 Jan  Hamilton, Calvin J. "Object 1993 SC." Views of the Solar System. Web. 9 Jan  Bacon, Greg. Orcus. Photograph. Orcus (2004 DW). Sol Company. Web  "Orcus (2004 DW)." SolStation.com. Sol Company. Web. 09 Jan  Eris Photograph. Views of the Solar System. Calvin J. Hamilton. Web  Hamilton, Calvin J. "Dwarf Planet Eris." Views of the Solar System. Web. 09 Jan