Kuiper Belt

E231441

The Kuiper Belt is a vast, doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond Neptune that includes dwarf planets like Pluto and is a major source of comets in our solar system.

All labels observed (9)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf region of the Solar System
reservoir of small Solar System bodies
trans-Neptunian region
alsoKnownAs Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
composition ammonia ice
ices such as water ice
methane ice
rocky material
contains classical Kuiper Belt objects
dwarf planet Gonggong (candidate)
dwarf planet Haumea
linked to: Haumea

dwarf planet Makemake
linked to: Makemake

dwarf planet Pluto
linked to: Pluto

dwarf planet Quaoar (candidate)
linked to: Quaoar

icy bodies
resonant Kuiper Belt objects
scattered disk objects (overlapping population)
small Solar System bodies
containsOrbitalResonancesWith Neptune
discovered in the early 1990s as a population of objects
distinguishedFrom asteroid belt
dynamicallyInfluencedBy Neptune
extendsFrom about 30 astronomical units from the Sun
extendsTo about 50 astronomical units from the Sun
firstObjectDiscovered (15760) 1992 QB1
formedFrom primordial protoplanetary disk material
hasSubpopulation cold classical Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt

hot classical Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt

resonant Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt

scattered disk (overlapping outer region)
hostStar Sun
includes Plutinos in 2:3 resonance with Neptune
locatedBeyond Neptune
majorSourceOf Jupiter-family comets
linked to: Kuiper Belt objects

short-period comets
namedAfter Gerard Kuiper
linked to: Gerard P. Kuiper
orbitalPlane roughly aligned with the ecliptic
partOf outer Solar System
populationEstimate millions of smaller icy bodies
tens of thousands of objects larger than 100 km
relatedTo Oort Cloud as another comet reservoir
shape doughnut-shaped
significance constrains models of Solar System formation and migration
studiedBy New Horizons spacecraft
linked to: New Horizons
temperatureRange extremely cold
visitedObject Arrokoth (486958) by New Horizons
Pluto system by New Horizons
linked to: New Horizons

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (40)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Orcus locatedIn Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Ixion locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Quaoar locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Varuna locatedIn Kuiper Belt
20000 Varuna orbitalRegion Kuiper Belt
(15760) 1992 QB1 orbitalRegion Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
944 Hidalgo mayHaveOrigin Kuiper belt or trans-Neptunian region (hypothesized)
subject linked to: asteroid 944 Hidalgo
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Chad Trujillo researchInterest Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Hiʻiaka ring belongsTo Kuiper belt region
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Haumea family locatedIn Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
outer Solar System contains Kuiper Belt
Hills cloud spatiallySurrounds Kuiper Belt (at much larger distances)
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Hiʻiaka locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Charon belongsToPlanetarySystem Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Kerberos locatedIn Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Styx locatedIn Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
MK 2 locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Michael E. Brown hasResearchInterest Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Arrokoth locatedIn Kuiper Belt
subject linked to: Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth
Arrokoth hasDynamicalClass cold classical Kuiper Belt
subject linked to: Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Ralph targetBody Kuiper Belt
SWAP targetRegion Kuiper Belt
PEPSSI targetRegion Kuiper Belt
SDC studiesRegion Kuiper Belt
APL New Horizons bus missionTarget Kuiper Belt
Namaka locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Hydra (moon) locatedIn Kuiper belt
subject linked to: Hydra
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Triton isThoughtToBeCapturedFrom Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt alsoKnownAs Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt hasSubpopulation cold classical Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt hasSubpopulation hot classical Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt hasSubpopulation resonant Kuiper Belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
Vanth locatedIn Kuiper Belt
90482 Orcus memberOf Kuiper Belt
2004 DW orbitalRegion Kuiper belt
linked to: Kuiper Belt
90482 Orcus isIn Kuiper Belt
subject linked to: 90482 Orcus (2004 DW)
Weywot locatedIn Kuiper Belt
Jane X. Luu fieldOfWork Kuiper Belt
David C. Jewitt researchInterest Kuiper Belt