Fast Facts for Kids
Kuiper Belt Facts for Kids

Kuiper Belt Facts for Kids

  • Common Name: Kuiper Belt
  • Region: Outer Solar System
  • Discovery Date: August 30th, 1992
  • Object Designation: Kuiper Belt Object (KBO)
  • Largest KBO: Dwarf Planet Pluto
  • First Explored: 2015, New Horizons Space Probe
  • Distance from the Sun: 2.7 to 5.1 billion miles

12 Kuiper Belt Facts For Kids

  1. The Kuiper Belt is a circumstellar disc consisting of small bodies and remnants of the early Solar System formation.
  2. The Kuiper Belt is named after Dutch astronomer and planetary scientist Gerard Kuiper. He didn’t discover any Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)
  3. The first KBO (Kuiper Belt Object) to be discovered in the Kuiper Belt was 15760 Albion (1992 QB) by British-American astronomer David C. Jewitt and Vietnamese American astronomer Jane X. Luu on August 30th, 1992.
  4. The first astronomer to suggest that a lot of objects lived beyond the planets was Irish theoretical astronomer Kenneth Essex Edgeworth.
  5. The Kuiper Belt starts at a distance between 2.7 billion miles (30 AU) from the Sun, beyond the orbit of Neptune and may extend out as far as 5.1 billion miles (55 AU) from the Sun.
  6. The frozen objects in the Kuiper Belt are ice bodies (frozen volatiles) like ammonia, methane, and water.
  7. The Kuiper Belt is home to several well-known dwarf planets, such as Pluto, Orcus, and Quaoar.
  8. Objects found within the Kuiper Belt are sometimes referred to as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs).
  9. Astronomers believe short-period comets originate from the Kuiper Belt, like Comet Halley and Comet Hale–Bopp.
  10. There are some estimates that claim there could be over a trillion of comets in the Kuiper Belt.
  11. The first spacecraft to explore the Kuiper Belt was NASA’s New Horizons space probe and flyby Pluto.
  12. There is mathematical evidence that suggests a planet, called Planet X or Planet 9, could be lurking in the Kuiper Belt.

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Kuiper Belt Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on the Kuiper Belt. Below are three pictures of the Kuiper Belt. These pictures should help you better understand the Kuiper Belt, the collection of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Illustration of the Kuiper Belt

An illustration of the Kuiper Belt.

Kuiper Belt in a Solar System Diagram

A diagram of the Kuiper Belt and the Solar System.

Kuiper Belt around the Sun

A dipiction of the Kuiper Belt around the Sun

Kuiper Belt Resources

We hope you found the above Kuiper Belt facts, information, data, and pictures both fun and educational. You can continue to research the Kuiper Belt using one of the below additional resources. They were chosen for their credibility and accuracy; you can trust their information when it comes to the Kuiper Belt. Thank you for choosing Fast Facts for Kids.