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The Kuiper belt (/ ˈ k aɪ p ər / KY-pər) [1] is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. [2] It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive.
The name "Kuiper belt" was given to the region in the 1980s; [9] it was first used in print by Scott Tremaine in 1988. [10]: 191 In the 1960s, Kuiper helped identify landing sites on the Moon for the Apollo program. [a] Kuiper discovered several binary stars which received "Kuiper numbers" to identify them, such as KUI 79.
Ceres, 2.8 AU in the asteroid belt; Orcus 39.4 AU, Trans-Neptunian-Kuiper belt object; Pluto 39 AU, Kuiper belt (a planet until 2006) Haumea 43 AU, Kuiper belt; Makemake 45.8 AU, Kuiper belt; Eris 95.6 AU, Kuiper belt; Gonggong Scattered disc object, 34 to 101 AU; Quaoar Kuiper belt object, 41.9 to 45.4 AU; Sedna 76 to 506 AU
A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano (/ ˌ k juː b iː ˈ w ʌ n oʊ / "QB1-o"), [a] is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major axes in the 40–50 AU range and, unlike Pluto, do not cross Neptune's ...
(181708) 1993 FW (provisional designation 1993 FW) is a cubewano and was the second trans-Neptunian object to be discovered after Pluto and Charon, the first having been 15760 Albion, formerly known as (15760) 1992 QB 1. It was discovered in 1993 by David C. Jewitt and Jane X. Luu at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. [5]
1951 – Gerard Kuiper argues for an annular reservoir of comets between 40 and 100 astronomical units from the Sun having formed early in the Solar System's evolution, but he did not think that such a belt still existed today. [176] Decades later, this region was named after him, the Kuiper belt.
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1999 OZ 3, also written 1999 OZ3, is a trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt. It is classified as a classical Kuiper belt object and belongs to the cold population. It has an aphelion of 49 AU and a perihelion of 38 AU. It is unlikely to be classified as a dwarf planet as it measures about 146 km in diameter.