Where is the Kuiper belt?
Where is the Kuiper belt? The Kuiper Belt, sometimes called the Edgeworth Kuiper Belt, is a circumstellar disk in the outer solar system, extending from the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) to about 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but as far as 20 times wider and 20 to 200 times larger. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies or remnants, when the solar system is formed. While many asteroids are primarily made of rock and metal, most Kuiper Belt objects are largely made up of frozen volatiles ("Eys"), such as methane, ammonia, and water. The Kuiper Belt is home to three officially recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, Humia, and Makemake. Some moons of the solar system, such as Neptune's Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, have originated in the region. After the discovery of Pluto in 1930, many speculated that it could not be alone. The region is called the Kuiper Belt which was envisaged in various forms for decades. It was on...