Pluto is the largest and most massive member of the Kuiper belt, and the largest and the second-most-massive known TNO, surpassed only by Eris in the scattered disc. Originally considered a planet, Pluto's status as part of the Kuiper belt caused it to be reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. It is compositionally similar to many other objects of the Kuiper belt and its orbital period is characteristic of a class of KBOs, known as "plutinos", that share the same 2:3 resonance with Neptune.
Introduction
Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt | Introduction
Kuiper belt Main-belt comets The Kuiper belt Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
large objects ( 10 m) in space originating from a region between jupiter and mars
user
Asteroid belt
assistant
can you explain its structure?
user
Asteroids become darker and redder with age due to space weathering. Composition is calculated from three primary sources: albedo, surface spectrum, and density.
assistant
how is it classified into groups?
user
Orbital classification; Quasi-satellites and horseshoe objects ; Spectral classification
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can you name a belt with similar properties?
user
is a classical Kuiper belt object (cubewano) belonging to the hot population. Its size estimated to lie between 150 and 450 km based on a range of plausible albedos. The object has a large light curve amplitude of about 0.85, which indicates that it has an extremely elongated shape or is a contact binary. In the former case the density of is estimated at about 0.86 g/cm and its axis ratios at 0.55 and 0.41. If is a contact binary, which is actually more likely, the density is estimated at about 2.67 g/cm. In the latter case, the components are also thought to be unequal in size with the mass ratio of about 0.3 and axis ratios of about 0.8 and 0.5, respectively, for the primary and secondary components.
2003 SQ317 | Physical properties
The vast majority of KBOs (more than two-thirds) have inclinations of less than 5° and eccentricities of less than 0.1 . Their semi-major axes show a preference for the middle of the main belt; arguably, smaller objects close to the limiting resonances have been either captured into resonance or have their orbits modified by Neptune. The 'hot' and 'cold' populations are strikingly different: more than 30% of all cubewanos are in low inclination, near-circular orbits. The parameters of the plutinos’ orbits are more evenly distributed, with a local maximum in moderate eccentricities in 0.15–0.2 range, and low inclinations 5–10°. See also the comparison with scattered disk objects.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Distribution
The number of objects is inversely proportional to some power of the diameter "D": Early estimates that were based on measurements of the apparent magnitude distribution found a value of q = 4 ±0.5, which implied that there are 8 (=2) times more objects in the 100–200 km range than in the 200–400 km range. Recent research has revealed that the size distributions of the hot classical and cold classical objects have differing slopes. The slope for the hot objects is q = 5.3 at large diameters and q = 2.0 at small diameters with the change in slope at 110 km.
Kuiper belt | Mass and size distribution
Binaries are less common on high-inclination orbits and their components typically differ in brightness. This correlation, together with the differences in colour, support further the suggestion that the currently observed classical objects belong to at least two different overlapping populations, with different physical properties and orbital history.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Cold and hot populations: physical characteristics
In what is called the dynamically cold classical Kuiper belt, of which 15760 Albion is the prototypical member, objects have orbits that are almost circular and only slightly tilted with respect to the orbits of the major planets. In the dynamically hot classical Kuiper belt, objects have orbits that are more elongated and that are tilted at steeper angles. In the scattered disc, also called the scattered Kuiper belt, discovered in 1997, bodies move in large orbits that are more elongated and more tilted still. The Resonant Kuiper belt objects move in orbits that are harmonically related to that of Neptune: the ratio of the orbital period of a resonant object to the Neptunian year is equal to one small integer divided by another.
David C. Jewitt | Research
orbit characterizes it as a classical Kuiper Belt object, or cubewano. Due to its nearly circular orbit and low inclination, it is also in the "cold" population of cubewanos. As a result, it is likely reddish in color.
1999 OJ4 | Orbit and classification
Many Kuiper belt objects have multiple satellites, and most have orbits that take them outside the plane of the ecliptic. The Kuiper belt can be roughly divided into the "classical" belt and the resonances. Resonances are orbits linked to that of Neptune (e.g. twice for every three Neptune orbits, or once for every two). The first resonance begins within the orbit of Neptune itself. The classical belt consists of objects having no resonance with Neptune, and extends from roughly 39.4 AU to 47.7 AU. Members of the classical Kuiper belt are classified as cubewanos, after the first of their kind to be discovered, 15760 Albion (which previously had the provisional designation 1992 QB), and are still in near primordial, low-eccentricity orbits.
Solar System | Kuiper belt
The first known collisional family in the classical Kuiper belt—a group of objects thought to be remnants from the breakup of a single body—is the Haumea family. It includes Haumea, its moons, and seven smaller bodies. The objects not only follow similar orbits but also share similar physical characteristics. Unlike many other KBO their surface contains large amounts of ice (HO) and no or very little tholins. The surface composition is inferred from their neutral (as opposed to red) colour and deep absorption at 1.5 and 2. μm in infrared spectrum. Several other collisional families might reside in the classical Kuiper belt.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Families
The cold population, on the other hand, has been proposed to have formed more or less in its current position because the loose binaries would be unlikely to survive encounters with Neptune. Although the Nice model appears to be able to at least partially explain a compositional difference, it has also been suggested the color difference may reflect differences in surface evolution.
Kuiper belt | Classical belt
" is a classical Kuiper belt object: Its orbit is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune, similar to 15760 Albion, but with a much greater orbital eccentricity and inclination. It completes one orbit around the Sun in just over 247 Earth years, at an average distance of about 44 AU. It came to perihelion around 1868, and to aphelion in 2015. It is currently about 50.7 AU from the Sun, and will again return to perihelion around 2163.
(386723) 2009 YE7 | Classification
Introduced by the report from the Deep Ecliptic Survey by J. L. Elliott et al. in 2005 uses formal criteria based on the mean orbital parameters. Put informally, the definition includes the objects that have never crossed the orbit of Neptune. According to this definition, an object qualifies as a classical KBO if:
Classical Kuiper belt object | DES classification
The slope for the cold objects is q = 8.2 at large diameters and q = 2.9 at small diameters with a change in slope at 140 km. The size distributions of the scattering objects, the plutinos, and the Neptune trojans have slopes similar to the other dynamically hot populations, but may instead have a divot, a sharp decrease in the number of objects below a specific size. This divot is hypothesized to be due to either the collisional evolution of the population, or to be due to the population having formed with no objects below this size, with the smaller objects being fragments of the original objects.
Kuiper belt | Mass and size distribution
Analysis of precovery observations in the visible spectrum between 2002 and 2007 show that it may be amongst the reddest objects in the Solar System, being more than 1.5 magnitudes fainter in the G (green) filtered versus the R (red) filtered images, which may offer some clues about its composition and origin "(also see color indices)". This is expected from a fairly small "orbitally unexcited" cold Classical Kuiper belt object as they are generally mostly red. The cold populations distance does not vary from the Sun very much so their surfaces are older, more irradiated, and covered in tholins. There is a chance it accreted in basically the same orbit it has today.
420356 Praamzius | Physical characteristics
An alternative classification, introduced by B. Gladman, B. Marsden and C. van Laerhoven in 2007, uses a 10-million-year orbit integration instead of the Tisserand's parameter. Classical objects are defined as not resonant and not being currently scattered by Neptune. Formally, this definition includes as "classical" all objects with their "current" orbits that Unlike other schemes, this definition includes the objects with major semi-axis less than 39.4 AU (2:3 resonance)—termed inner classical belt, or more than 48.7 (1:2 resonance) – termed outer classical belt, and reserves the term main classical belt for the orbits between these two resonances.
Classical Kuiper belt object | SSBN07 classification
The Edgeworth-Kuiper belt contains objects with an average distance to the Sun of 30 to about 55 AU, usually having close-to-circular orbits with a small inclination from the ecliptic. Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects are further classified into the resonant trans-Neptunian object, that are locked in an orbital resonance with Neptune, and the classical Kuiper belt objects, also called "cubewanos", that have no such resonance, moving on almost circular orbits, unperturbed by Neptune. There are a large number of resonant subgroups, the largest being the twotinos (1:2 resonance) and the plutinos (2:3 resonance), named after their most prominent member, Pluto. Members of the classical Edgeworth-Kuiper belt include 15760 Albion, 50000 Quaoar and Makemake.
Trans-Neptunian object | KBOs
The classical Kuiper belt appears to be a composite of two separate populations. The first, known as the "dynamically cold" population, has orbits much like the planets; nearly circular, with an orbital eccentricity of less than 0.1, and with relatively low inclinations up to about 10° (they lie close to the plane of the Solar System rather than at an angle). The cold population also contain a concentration of objects, referred to as the kernel, with semi-major axes at 44–44.5 AU. The second, the "dynamically hot" population, has orbits much more inclined to the ecliptic, by up to 30°. The two populations have been named this way not because of any major difference in temperature, but from analogy to particles in a gas, which increase their relative velocity as they become heated up.
Kuiper belt | Classical belt
There are two basic dynamical classes of classical Kuiper-belt bodies: those with relatively unperturbed ('cold') orbits, and those with markedly perturbed ('hot') orbits. Most cubewanos are found between the 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune (populated by plutinos) and the 1:2 resonance. 50000 Quaoar, for example, has a near-circular orbit close to the ecliptic. Plutinos, on the other hand, have more eccentric orbits bringing some of them closer to the Sun than Neptune. The majority of classical objects, the so-called "cold population", have low inclinations (< 5°) and near-circular orbits, lying between 42 and 47 AU. A smaller population (the "hot population") is characterised by highly inclined, more eccentric orbits.
Classical Kuiper belt object | : 'hot' and 'cold' populations
The Kuiper belt (), occasionally called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger – 20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies or remnants from when the Solar System formed. While many asteroids are composed primarily of rock and metal, most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles (termed "ices"), such as methane, ammonia and water.
Kuiper belt | Introduction
A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( "QB1-o"), 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 orbit. That is, they have low-eccentricity and sometimes low-inclination orbits like the classical planets. The name "cubewano" derives from the first trans-Neptunian object (TNO) found after Pluto and Charon, 15760 Albion, which until January 2018 had only had the provisional designation . Similar objects found later were often called "QB1-o's", or "cubewanos", after this object, though the term "classical" is much more frequently used in the scientific literature.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Introduction
Their dynamic orbits occasionally force them into the inner Solar System, first becoming centaurs, and then short-period comets. According to the Minor Planet Center, which officially catalogues all trans-Neptunian objects, a KBO, strictly speaking, is any object that orbits exclusively within the defined Kuiper belt region regardless of origin or composition. Objects found outside the belt are classed as scattered objects. In some scientific circles the term "Kuiper belt object" has become synonymous with any icy minor planet native to the outer Solar System assumed to have been part of that initial class, even if its orbit during the bulk of Solar System history has been beyond the Kuiper belt (e.g.
Kuiper belt | Scattered objects
Studies since the mid-1990s have shown that the belt is dynamically stable and that comets' true place of origin is the scattered disc, a dynamically active zone created by the outward motion of Neptune 4.5 billion years ago; scattered disc objects such as Eris have extremely eccentric orbits that take them as far as 100 AU from the Sun. The Kuiper belt is distinct from the theoretical Oort cloud, which is a thousand times more distant and is mostly spherical. The objects within the Kuiper belt, together with the members of the scattered disc and any potential Hills cloud or Oort cloud objects, are collectively referred to as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs).
Kuiper belt | Introduction
Objects identified as cubewanos include: 136108 Haumea was provisionally listed as a cubewano by the Minor Planet Center in 2006, but was later found to be in a resonant orbit.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Introduction
Not only are the two populations in different orbits, the cold population also differs in color and albedo, being redder and brighter, has a larger fraction of binary objects, has a different size distribution, and lacks very large objects. The mass of the dynamically cold population is roughly 30 times less than the mass of the hot. The difference in colors may be a reflection of different compositions, which suggests they formed in different regions. The hot population is proposed to have formed near Neptune's original orbit and to have been scattered out during the migration of the giant planets.
Kuiper belt | Classical belt
The Kuiper belt object is considered to be a resonant trans-Neptunian object in a higher 5:9 orbital resonance with the ice giant Neptune. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 40.2–49.6 AU once every 300 years and 10 months (semi-major axis of 44.9 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official first observation by David Osip, Paul Schechter, David Borncamp, Susan Benecchi and Scott Sheppard of the New Horizons KBO Search using the Magellan II (Clay) telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory, located in the Atacama desert in Chile.
2012 HE85 | Orbit and classification
The small total mass of the dynamically cold population presents some problems for models of the Solar System's formation because a sizable mass is required for accretion of KBOs larger than in diameter. If the cold classical Kuiper belt had always had its current low density, these large objects simply could not have formed by the collision and mergers of smaller planetesimals. Moreover, the eccentricity and inclination of current orbits makes the encounters quite "violent" resulting in destruction rather than accretion. The removal of a large fraction of the mass of the dynamically cold population is thought to be unlikely.
Kuiper belt | Mass and size distribution
Consequently, the traditional usage of the terms is based on the orbit's semi-major axis, and includes objects situated between the 2:3 and 1:2 resonances, that is between 39.4 and 47.8 AU (with exclusion of these resonances and the minor ones in-between). These definitions lack precision: in particular the boundary between the classical objects and the scattered disk remains blurred. , there are 634 objects with perihelion (q) > 40 AU and aphelion (Q) < 47 AU.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Toward a formal definition
Neptune's current influence is too weak to explain such a massive "vacuuming", and the extent of mass loss by collisional grinding is limited by the presence of loosely bound binaries in the cold disk, which are likely to be disrupted in collisions. Instead of forming from the collisions of smaller planetesimals, the larger object may have formed directly from the collapse of clouds of pebbles. The size distributions of the Kuiper belt objects follow a number of power laws. A power law describes the relationship between "N"("D") (the number of objects of diameter greater than "D") and "D", and is referred to as brightness slope.
Kuiper belt | Mass and size distribution
The densities and rock–ice fractions are known for only a small number of objects for which the diameters and the masses have been determined. The diameter can be determined by imaging with a high-resolution telescope such as the Hubble Space Telescope, by the timing of an occultation when an object passes in front of a star or, most commonly, by using the albedo of an object calculated from its infrared emissions. The masses are determined using the semi-major axes and periods of satellites, which are therefore known only for a few binary objects. The densities range from less than 0.4 to 2.6 g/cm.
Kuiper belt | Composition
Observation ruled out this hypothesis.
Kuiper belt | Hypotheses
The left image is a "top view" of a wide belt, and the right image is an "edge view" of a narrow belt. Computer simulations of dust in the Kuiper belt suggest that when it was younger, it may have resembled the narrow rings seen around younger stars.
Kuiper belt | Extrasolar Kuiper belts
At its fullest extent (but excluding the scattered disc), including its outlying regions, the Kuiper belt stretches from roughly 30–55 AU. The main body of the belt is generally accepted to extend from the 2:3 mean-motion resonance (see below) at 39.5 AU to the 1:2 resonance at roughly 48 AU. The Kuiper belt is quite thick, with the main concentration extending as much as ten degrees outside the ecliptic plane and a more diffuse distribution of objects extending several times farther. Overall it more resembles a torus or doughnut than a belt. Its mean position is inclined to the ecliptic by 1.86 degrees.
Kuiper belt | Structure
The discovery of these large KBOs in orbits similar to Pluto's led many to conclude that, aside from its relative size, Pluto was not particularly different from other members of the Kuiper belt. Not only are these objects similar to Pluto in size, but many also have satellites, and are of similar composition (methane and carbon monoxide have been found both on Pluto and on the largest KBOs). Thus, just as Ceres was considered a planet before the discovery of its fellow asteroids, some began to suggest that Pluto might also be reclassified. The issue was brought to a head by the discovery of Eris, an object in the scattered disc far beyond the Kuiper belt, that is now known to be 27% more massive than Pluto.
Kuiper belt | Pluto
Pluto is the largest and most massive member of the Kuiper belt, and the largest and the second-most-massive known TNO, surpassed only by Eris in the scattered disc. Originally considered a planet, Pluto's status as part of the Kuiper belt caused it to be reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. It is compositionally similar to many other objects of the Kuiper belt and its orbital period is characteristic of a class of KBOs, known as "plutinos", that share the same 2:3 resonance with Neptune.
Kuiper belt | Introduction
, also written as (145452) 2005 RN43, is a classical Kuiper belt object. It has an estimated diameter of . It was discovered by Andrew Becker, Andrew Puckett and Jeremy Kubica on 10 September 2005 at Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico. Brown estimates that it is possibly a dwarf planet.
(145452) 2005 RN43 | Introduction
According to their distance from the Sun and their orbital parameters, TNOs are classified in two large groups: the Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and the scattered disc objects (SDOs). The diagram to the right illustrates the distribution of known trans-Neptunian objects (up to 70 AU) in relation to the orbits of the planets and the centaurs for reference. Different classes are represented in different colours. Resonant objects (including Neptune trojans) are plotted in red, classical Kuiper belt objects in blue. The scattered disc extends to the right, far beyond the diagram, with known objects at mean distances beyond 500 AU (Sedna) and aphelia beyond 1,000 AU ().
Trans-Neptunian object | Classification
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object and cubewano from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 13 March 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. The classical Kuiper belt object belongs to the hot population and is a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately in diameter.
(523684) 2014 CQ23 | Introduction
However, this evolution of Neptune's orbit fails to account for some of the characteristics of the orbital distribution. It predicts a greater average eccentricity in classical Kuiper belt object orbits than is observed (0.10–0.13 versus 0.07) and it does not produce enough higher-inclination objects. It also cannot explain the apparent complete absence of gray objects in the cold population, although it has been suggested that color differences arise in part from surface evolution processes rather than entirely from differences in primordial composition.
Nice model | Formation of the Kuiper belt
When the orbital eccentricities of cubewanos and plutinos are compared, it can be seen that the cubewanos form a clear 'belt' outside Neptune's orbit, whereas the plutinos approach, or even cross Neptune's orbit. When orbital inclinations are compared, 'hot' cubewanos can be easily distinguished by their higher inclinations, as the plutinos typically keep orbits below 20°. (No clear explanation currently exists for the inclinations of 'hot' cubewanos.)
Classical Kuiper belt object | Distribution
The Kuiper belt is a relatively thick torus (or "doughnut") of space, extending from about 30 to 50 AU comprising two main populations of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs): the classical Kuiper-belt objects (or "cubewanos"), which lie in orbits untouched by Neptune, and the resonant Kuiper-belt objects; those which Neptune has locked into a precise orbital ratio such as 2:3 (the object goes around twice for every three Neptune orbits) and 1:2 (the object goes around once for every two Neptune orbits). These ratios, called orbital resonances, allow KBOs to persist in regions which Neptune's gravitational influence would otherwise have cleared out over the age of the Solar System, since the objects are never close enough to Neptune to be scattered by its gravity.
Scattered disc | Scattered disc versus Kuiper belt
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object from the classical Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 30 January 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. The classical Kuiper belt object is also a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately in diameter.
(523702) 2014 HW199 | Introduction
Different substances absorb light at different wavelengths, and when the spectrum for a specific object is unravelled, dark lines (called absorption lines) appear where the substances within it have absorbed that particular wavelength of light. Every element or compound has its own unique spectroscopic signature, and by reading an object's full spectral "fingerprint", astronomers can determine its composition. Analysis indicates that Kuiper belt objects are composed of a mixture of rock and a variety of ices such as water, methane, and ammonia. The temperature of the belt is only about 50 K, so many compounds that would be gaseous closer to the Sun remain solid.
Kuiper belt | Composition
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object and cubewano from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 12 April 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. The classical Kuiper belt object belongs to the hot population and is a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately in diameter.
(523687) 2014 DF143 | Introduction
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object and cubewano from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 8 April 2014, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. The classical Kuiper belt object belongs to the hot population and is a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately in diameter.
(505624) 2014 GU53 | Introduction
is similar in orbit and current position to Quaoar, although with higher eccentricity and inclination, orbiting every 272.6 years. belongs to the class of Kuiper belt objects. It is in an intermittent 18:11 orbital resonance with Neptune.
(307261) 2002 MS4 | Orbit and classification
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 23 September 1998, by American astronomer Arianna Gleason at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. The cold classical Kuiper belt object is a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately in diameter. It has a grey-blue color and a rotation period of 8.8 hours.
(35671) 1998 SN165 | Introduction
The Kuiper belt, sometimes called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 55 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger; 20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies (remnants from the Solar System's formation) and at least one dwarf planet—Pluto, which may be geologically active. But while the asteroid belt is composed primarily of rock and metal, the Kuiper belt is composed largely of ices, such as methane, ammonia, and water.
Geology of solar terrestrial planets | Kuiper belt
Between the 2:3 and 1:2 resonances with Neptune, at approximately 42–48 AU, the gravitational interactions with Neptune occur over an extended timescale, and objects can exist with their orbits essentially unaltered. This region is known as the classical Kuiper belt, and its members comprise roughly two thirds of KBOs observed to date. Because the first modern KBO discovered (Albion, but long called (15760) 1992 QB), is considered the prototype of this group, classical KBOs are often referred to as cubewanos ("Q-B-1-os"). The guidelines established by the IAU demand that classical KBOs be given names of mythological beings associated with creation.
Kuiper belt | Classical belt
The precise origins of the Kuiper belt and its complex structure are still unclear, and astronomers are awaiting the completion of several wide-field survey telescopes such as Pan-STARRS and the future LSST, which should reveal many currently unknown KBOs. These surveys will provide data that will help determine answers to these questions. The Kuiper belt is thought to consist of planetesimals, fragments from the original protoplanetary disc around the Sun that failed to fully coalesce into planets and instead formed into smaller bodies, the largest less than in diameter. Studies of the crater counts on Pluto and Charon revealed a scarcity of small craters suggesting that such objects formed directly as sizeable objects in the range of tens of kilometers in diameter rather than being accreted from much smaller, roughly kilometer scale bodies.
Kuiper belt | Origin
in the scattered-disc region). They often describe scattered disc objects as "scattered Kuiper belt objects". Eris, which is known to be more massive than Pluto, is often referred to as a KBO, but is technically an SDO. A consensus among astronomers as to the precise definition of the Kuiper belt has yet to be reached, and this issue remains unresolved. The centaurs, which are not normally considered part of the Kuiper belt, are also thought to be scattered objects, the only difference being that they were scattered inward, rather than outward. The Minor Planet Center groups the centaurs and the SDOs together as scattered objects.
Kuiper belt | Scattered objects
The Minor Planet Center lists as a trans-Neptunian object or a distant object in the Kuiper belt. The Deep Ecliptic Survey currently shows it as a scattered object, based on a 10-million-year integration of the orbit.
(470308) 2007 JH43 | Orbital classification
By 2006, astronomers had resolved dust discs thought to be Kuiper belt-like structures around nine stars other than the Sun. They appear to fall into two categories: wide belts, with radii of over 50 AU, and narrow belts (tentatively like that of the Solar System) with radii of between 20 and 30 AU and relatively sharp boundaries. Beyond this, 15–20% of solar-type stars have an observed infrared excess that is suggestive of massive Kuiper-belt-like structures. Most known debris discs around other stars are fairly young, but the two images on the right, taken by the "Hubble Space Telescope" in January 2006, are old enough (roughly 300 million years) to have settled into stable configurations.
Kuiper belt | Extrasolar Kuiper belts
orbits the Sun at a distance of 37.2–55.4 AU once every 315 years and 5 months (semi-major axis of 46.33 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 5.4° with respect to the ecliptic. As a cubewano, also known as classical Kuiper belt object, is located in between the resonant plutino and twotino populations and has a low-eccentricity orbit. It belongs to the "stirred" hot population, but only just, since the rather arbitrary threshold to the cold population is typically defined for inclinations lower than 5°. In the object classification of the Deep Ecliptic Survey, however, has a secured SCATNEAR type, which is a combination of the SCAT and NEAR attributes.
(516977) 2012 HZ84 | Orbit and classification
There is no official definition of 'cubewano' or 'classical KBO'. However, the terms are normally used to refer to objects free from significant perturbation from Neptune, thereby excluding KBOs in orbital resonance with Neptune (resonant trans-Neptunian objects). The Minor Planet Center (MPC) and the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) do not list cubewanos (classical objects) using the same criteria. Many TNOs classified as cubewanos by the MPC are classified as ScatNear (possibly scattered by Neptune) by the DES. Dwarf planet Makemake is such a borderline classical cubewano/scatnear object. may be an inner cubewano near the plutinos. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Kuiper belt has an 'edge', in that an apparent lack of low-inclination objects beyond 47–49 AU was suspected as early as 1998 and shown with more data in 2001.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Toward a formal definition
Bernstein, Trilling, "et al". (2003) found evidence that the rapid decline in objects of 100 km or more in radius beyond 50 AU is real, and not due to observational bias. Possible explanations include that material at that distance was too scarce or too scattered to accrete into large objects, or that subsequent processes removed or destroyed those that did. Patryk Lykawka of Kobe University claimed that the gravitational attraction of an unseen large planetary object, perhaps the size of Earth or Mars, might be responsible.
Kuiper belt | Kuiper cliff
The objects within the Kuiper belt, together with the members of the scattered disc and any potential Hills cloud or Oort cloud objects, are collectively referred to as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Two TNOs have been visited and studied at close range, Pluto and 486958 Arrokoth.
Geology of solar terrestrial planets | Kuiper belt
The scattered disc is a sparsely populated region, overlapping with the Kuiper belt but extending to beyond 100 AU. Scattered disc objects (SDOs) have very elliptical orbits, often also very inclined to the ecliptic. Most models of Solar System formation show both KBOs and SDOs first forming in a primordial belt, with later gravitational interactions, particularly with Neptune, sending the objects outward, some into stable orbits (the KBOs) and some into unstable orbits, the scattered disc. Due to its unstable nature, the scattered disc is suspected to be the point of origin of many of the Solar System's short-period comets.
Kuiper belt | Scattered objects
Being distant from the Sun and major planets, Kuiper belt objects are thought to be relatively unaffected by the processes that have shaped and altered other Solar System objects; thus, determining their composition would provide substantial information on the makeup of the earliest Solar System. Due to their small size and extreme distance from Earth, the chemical makeup of KBOs is very difficult to determine. The principal method by which astronomers determine the composition of a celestial object is spectroscopy. When an object's light is broken into its component colors, an image akin to a rainbow is formed. This image is called a spectrum.
Kuiper belt | Composition
Similar processes have been inferred in the debris disks around Fomalhaut and AU Microscopii.
Beta Pictoris | Planetesimal belts
The Kuiper belt is a great ring of debris similar to the asteroid belt, but consisting mainly of objects composed primarily of ice. It extends between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun. Though it is estimated to contain anything from dozens to thousands of dwarf planets, it is composed mainly of small Solar System bodies. Many of the larger Kuiper belt objects, such as Quaoar, Varuna, and Orcus, may prove to be dwarf planets with further data. There are estimated to be over 100,000 Kuiper belt objects with a diameter greater than 50 km, but the total mass of the Kuiper belt is thought to be only a tenth or even a hundredth the mass of Earth.
Solar System | Kuiper belt
The first stage is the detection rate for images that came from INT as a function of magnitude, which was investigated using artificial images adding to the original frames. The second stage involved examining the detection rate for a series of artificial images from INT that followed the typical slow moving solar system objects (SMO) track. The outcome of this survey was a detection of two new Kuiper belts objects within the area of 0.7 degree sq. to a limiting magnitude mR=23.5.
Anna N. Żytkow | Kuiper belt discoveries
Despite its vast extent, the collective mass of the Kuiper belt is relatively low. The total mass of the dynamically hot population is estimated to be 1% the mass of the Earth. The dynamically cold population is estimated to be much smaller with only 0.03% the mass of the Earth. While the dynamically hot population is thought to the remnant of a much larger population that formed closer to the Sun and was scattered outward during the migration of the giant planets, in contrast, the dynamically cold population is thought to have formed at its current location. The most recent estimate puts the total mass of the Kuiper belt at Earth masses based on the influence that it exerts on the motion of planets.
Kuiper belt | Mass and size distribution
The objects in the Himalia group have semi-major axes (distances from Jupiter) in the range of 11.15 and 11.75 Gm, inclinations between 26.6° and 28.3°, and eccentricities of between 0.11 and 0.25. All orbit prograde. In physical appearance, the group is very homogenous, all satellites displaying neutral colours (colour indices B−V = 0.66 and V−R = 0.36) similar to those of C-type asteroids. Given the limited dispersion of the orbital parameters and the spectral homogeneity, it has been suggested that the group could be a remnant of the break-up of an asteroid from the main asteroid belt. The radius of the parent asteroid was probably about 89 km, only slightly larger than that of Himalia, which retains approximately 87% of the mass of the original body.
Himalia group | Characteristics and origin
The scattered disc was created when Neptune migrated outward into the proto-Kuiper belt, which at the time was much closer to the Sun, and left in its wake a population of dynamically stable objects that could never be affected by its orbit (the Kuiper belt proper), and a population whose perihelia are close enough that Neptune can still disturb them as it travels around the Sun (the scattered disc). Because the scattered disc is dynamically active and the Kuiper belt relatively dynamically stable, the scattered disc is now seen as the most likely point of origin for periodic comets.
Kuiper belt | Discovery
In the Nice model, many Kuiper-belt objects are captured in the outer asteroid belt, at distances greater than 2.6 AU. Most were later ejected by Jupiter, but those that remained may be the D-type asteroids, and possibly include Ceres.
Asteroid | Formation
420356 Praamzius, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object from the classical Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 23 January 2012, by astronomers Kazimieras Černis and Richard Boyle with the Vatican's VATT at Mount Graham Observatory in Arizona, United States. The cold classical Kuiper belt object is a weak dwarf planet candidate and possibly very red in color. It was named after the chief god Praamžius from Lithuanian mythology.
420356 Praamzius | Introduction
has a dark albedo of 0.04, giving it a diameter of about 291 km. Its reflectance spectrum bears striking resemblance to those of some hydrated C-type asteroids, indicating that this object possibly formed in the same environment as the C-type asteroids found today in the outer asteroid belt. Unlike the majority of small objects in the Kuiper belt observed so far, the visible spectrum of has two features, each respectively associated with ferric oxides and phyllosilicates. The presence of a phyllosilicate feature in the spectrum of a minor planet indicates that the rocky component of its composition has been altered by the presence of liquid water at some point since its formation.
(120216) 2004 EW95 | Physical characteristics
Quaoar's orbit is moderately inclined to the ecliptic plane by 8 degrees, relatively high when compared to the inclinations of Kuiper belt objects within the dynamically cold population. Because Quaoar's orbital inclination is greater than 4 degrees, it is part of the dynamically hot population of high-inclination classical Kuiper belt objects. The high inclinations of hot classical Kuiper belt objects such as Quaoar are thought to have resulted from gravitational scattering by Neptune during its outward migration in the early Solar System.
50000 Quaoar | Orbit and classification
Based on an integration of its motion over 10 million years, has been classified as a classical Kuiper belt object (cubewano). It is near a 2:3 resonance with Neptune. The object is currently at 39 AU from the Sun. The rotational period of is 5.68 h.
(144897) 2004 UX10 | Orbit and rotation
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, "Kuiper" measures 36.0 and 40.0 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo of 0.033 and 0.054, respectively. Typical value for C-, D- or P-type asteroids in the outer main-belt. However, as of 2017, "Kuiper"s composition, as well as its rotation period and shape remain unknown.
1776 Kuiper | Physical characteristics
Other objects remain captured in resonance, forming the plutinos and other resonant populations. These two population are dynamically hot, with higher inclinations and eccentricities; due to their being scattered outward and the longer period these objects interact with Neptune. This evolution of Neptune's orbit produces both resonant and non-resonant populations, an outer edge at Neptune's 2:1 resonance, and a small mass relative to the original planetesimal disk. The excess of low-inclination plutinos in other models is avoided due to Neptune being scattered outward, leaving its 3:2 resonance beyond the original edge of the planetesimal disk. The differing initial locations, with the cold classical objects originating primarily from the outer disk, and capture processes, offer explanations for the bi-modal inclination distribution and its correlation with compositions.
Nice model | Formation of the Kuiper belt
Some objects, like (29981) 1999 TD, blur the distinction and the Minor Planet Center (MPC), which officially catalogues all trans-Neptunian objects, now lists centaurs and SDOs together. The MPC, however, makes a clear distinction between the Kuiper belt and the scattered disc, separating those objects in stable orbits (the Kuiper belt) from those in scattered orbits (the scattered disc and the centaurs). However, the difference between the Kuiper belt and the scattered disc is not clear-cut, and many astronomers see the scattered disc not as a separate population but as an outward region of the Kuiper belt. Another term used is "scattered Kuiper-belt object" (or SKBO) for bodies of the scattered disc.
Scattered disc | Scattered disc versus Kuiper belt
Manwë has significant and irregular photometric variability, demonstrating that its components are not tidally locked. The surfaces of Manwë and Thorondor appear to be very red. The composition of Manwë is unknown but likely to be mostly ice, because the nominal density (with large uncertainty) is less than that of water. At least one other Kuiper belt object, , has been found with a density of less than 1 g/cm, which implies an object made mostly of ice with a low rock fraction and high porosity.
385446 Manwë | Physical properties
, provisional designation , is a small trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt located in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 17 April 2012, by a team of astronomers using one of the Magellan Telescopes in Chile during the New Horizons KBO Search in order to find a potential flyby target for the "New Horizons" spacecraft. In December 2017, this classical Kuiper belt object was imaged by the spacecraft from afar at a record distance from Earth.
(516977) 2012 HZ84 | Introduction
The presence of Neptune has a profound effect on the Kuiper belt's structure due to orbital resonances. Over a timescale comparable to the age of the Solar System, Neptune's gravity destabilises the orbits of any objects that happen to lie in certain regions, and either sends them into the inner Solar System or out into the scattered disc or interstellar space. This causes the Kuiper belt to have pronounced gaps in its current layout, similar to the Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt. In the region between 40 and 42 AU, for instance, no objects can retain a stable orbit over such times, and any observed in that region must have migrated there relatively recently.
Kuiper belt | Structure
The Kuiper belt is home to three officially recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, Haumea and Makemake. Some of the Solar System's moons, such as Neptune's Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, may have originated in the region. The Kuiper belt was named after Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, though he did not predict its existence. In 1992, minor planet (15760) Albion was discovered, the first Kuiper belt object (KBO) since Pluto and Charon. Since its discovery, the number of known KBOs has increased to thousands, and more than 100,000 KBOs over in diameter are thought to exist. The Kuiper belt was initially thought to be the main repository for periodic comets, those with orbits lasting less than 200 years.
Kuiper belt | Introduction
, provisional designation , is a trans-Neptunian object and member of the Haumea family that resides in the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 19 September 1995, by American astronomer Nichole Danzl of the Spacewatch program at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. It measures approximately 600–700 kilometers in diameter and was the second-brightest known object in the Kuiper belt, after Pluto, until was discovered.
(24835) 1995 SM55 | Introduction
Here is a very generic list of classical Kuiper belt objects. , there are about 779 objects with and .
Classical Kuiper belt object | List
For finite dimensional "H", this group would be a complex general linear group and not at all contractible. In fact it is homotopy equivalent to its maximal compact subgroup, the unitary group "U" of "H". The proof that the complex general linear group and unitary group have the same homotopy type is by the Gram-Schmidt process, or through the matrix polar decomposition, and carries over to the infinite-dimensional case of separable Hilbert space, basically because the space of upper triangular matrices is contractible as can be seen quite explicitly. The underlying phenomenon is that passing to infinitely many dimensions causes much of the topological complexity of the unitary groups to vanish; but see the section on Bott's unitary group, where the passage to infinity is more constrained, and the resulting group has non-trivial homotopy groups.
Kuiper's theorem | General topology of the general linear group
The succeeding Durness Group consists mainly of dolomites, with some limestone and chert. The distinctive character of this sequence enabled detailed mapping, even in areas of relatively poor exposure and allowed sections repeated by thrusting to be recognised.
Moine Thrust Belt | Lower Palaeozoic
In addition to the distinct orbital characteristics, the two populations display different physical characteristics. The difference in colour between the red cold population, such as 486958 Arrokoth, and more heterogeneous hot population was observed as early as in 2002. Recent studies, based on a larger data set, indicate the cut-off inclination of 12° (instead of 5°) between the cold and hot populations and confirm the distinction between the homogenous red cold population and the bluish hot population. Another difference between the low-inclination (cold) and high-inclination (hot) classical objects is the observed number of binary objects. Binaries are quite common on low-inclination orbits and are typically similar-brightness systems.
Classical Kuiper belt object | Cold and hot populations: physical characteristics
is a trans-Neptunian object. More specifically, it is a non-resonant classical Kuiper belt object, also known as "cubewano". It orbits the Sun at a distance of 42.1–46.6 AU once every 295 years and 4 months (107,886 days; semi-major axis of 44.4 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. This makes it a typical member of the "cold population" among the cubewanos in the Kuiper belt. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken by the New Horizons KBO Search team with the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii, six week prior to its official first observation by Hubble.
2014 PN70 | Orbit and classification
Hypothetical mechanisms for the formation of these larger bodies include the gravitational collapse of clouds of pebbles concentrated between eddies in a turbulent protoplanetary disk or in streaming instabilities. These collapsing clouds may fragment, forming binaries. Modern computer simulations show the Kuiper belt to have been strongly influenced by Jupiter and Neptune, and also suggest that neither Uranus nor Neptune could have formed in their present positions, because too little primordial matter existed at that range to produce objects of such high mass. Instead, these planets are estimated to have formed closer to Jupiter. Scattering of planetesimals early in the Solar System's history would have led to migration of the orbits of the giant planets: Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune drifted outwards, whereas Jupiter drifted inwards.
Kuiper belt | Origin
The pair can be resolved even through smaller telescopes. The binary system contains some of the closest young solar-type stars to the Sun, with a system age of about 200 million years old. The primary star (A) has been identified as a candidate for possessing a Kuiper-like belt, based on infrared observations. The estimated minimum mass of this dust disk is 2.4 times the mass of the Earth's Moon. (Compare to the value of 8.2 lunar masses for the Kuiper belt.)
Xi Boötis | Properties
The inclination distribution of the hot classical Kuiper belt objects is reproduced in numerical simulations where Neptune migrated smoothly from 24 AU to 28 AU with an exponential timescale of 10 million years before jumping outward when it encounters with a fifth giant planet and with a 30 million years exponential timescale thereafter. The slow pace and extended distance of this migration provides sufficient time for inclinations to be excited before the resonances reach the region of Kuiper belt where the hot classical objects are captured and later deposited. If Neptune reaches an eccentricity greater than 0.12 following its encounter with the fifth giant planet hot classical Kuiper belt objects can also be captured due to secular forcing.
Jumping-Jupiter scenario | Kuiper belt
The six largest TNOs (Eris, Pluto, Gonggong, Makemake, Haumea and Quaoar) are all known to have satellites, and two of them have more than one. A higher percentage of the larger KBOs have satellites than the smaller objects in the Kuiper belt, suggesting that a different formation mechanism was responsible. There are also a high number of binaries (two objects close enough in mass to be orbiting "each other") in the Kuiper belt. The most notable example is the Pluto–Charon binary, but it is estimated that around 11% of KBOs exist in binaries.
Kuiper belt | Satellites
"Kridsadaporn", with its Jovian Tisserand invariant of 2.858, falls within the feature-less (without bands) comet-like spectral group. These studies also concluded that ACOs with featured spectra (with bands) typical of the main belt had "T" ≥ 2.9 while those with "T" < 2.9 demonstrated comet-like spectra, suggesting that the subsample of ACOs with 2.9 ≤ "T" ≤ 3.0 could be populated by a large fraction of interlopers from the inner part of the belt. "Kridsadaporn" has a perihelion distance "q" = 1.3224 AU. A study of the relationship between the size distribution profile and perihelion distances of ACOs concluded that a sub-sample of ACOs with a perihelion distance "q" > 1.3 AU had a size distribution profile similar to that of the Jupiter family comets, suggesting that sub-sample to be composed of a significant fraction of dormant comets, while a large fraction of ACOs with "q" < 1.3 AU could more likely be scattered objects from the outer main belt.
7604 Kridsadaporn | Origins of ACO objects
The terms 'hot' and 'cold' has nothing to do with surface or internal temperatures. Instead, the terms 'hot and 'cold' refer to the orbits of the objects, by analogy to particles in a gas, which increase their relative velocity as they become heated up.
Classical Kuiper belt object | : 'hot' and 'cold' populations
, also written as (33001) 1997 CU29 is a cold classical Kuiper belt object, or cubewano. It has a perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at 41.6 AU and an aphelion (farthest approach from the Sun) of 45.1 AU. is about 280 km in diameter. It was discovered on February 6, 1997, by David C. Jewitt, Jane X. Luu, Chad Trujillo, and Jun Chen at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.
(33001) 1997 CU29 | Introduction
, provisionally known as , is a resonant trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt located in the outermost regions of the Solar System. It measures approximately 291 kilometers in diameter. It has more carbon than typical of KBOs, and the first to be confirmed as having this composition in this region of space. It is thought that it had originated closer to the Sun, maybe even the main asteroid belt.
(120216) 2004 EW95 | Introduction
was discovered on 21 August 2001 by Marc William Buie from Cerro Tololo Observatory, La Serena, Chile. belongs to the dynamically cold population of the classical Kuiper belt objects, which have small orbital eccentricities and inclinations. Their semi-major axes reside mainly in the interval 40–45 AU.
(275809) 2001 QY297 | Discovery and orbit
"Kuiper" is a member of the Eos family (), the largest asteroid family in the outer main belt consisting of nearly 10,000 asteroids. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 3.1–3.1 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (1,996 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.01 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. "Kuiper" was first identified as at Heidelberg Observatory in 1930, extending its observation arc by 30 years prior to its official discovery observation.
1776 Kuiper | Orbit and classification
The least dense objects are thought to be largely composed of ice and have significant porosity. The densest objects are likely composed of rock with a thin crust of ice. There is a trend of low densities for small objects and high densities for the largest objects. One possible explanation for this trend is that ice was lost from the surface layers when differentiated objects collided to form the largest objects. Initially, detailed analysis of KBOs was impossible, and so astronomers were only able to determine the most basic facts about their makeup, primarily their color. These first data showed a broad range of colors among KBOs, ranging from neutral grey to deep red.
Kuiper belt | Composition
Eventually, the orbits shifted to the point where Jupiter and Saturn reached an exact 1:2 resonance; Jupiter orbited the Sun twice for every one Saturn orbit. The gravitational repercussions of such a resonance ultimately destabilized the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, causing them to be scattered outward onto high-eccentricity orbits that crossed the primordial planetesimal disc.
Kuiper belt | Origin
Additionally, a much longer wavelength suggests the existence of a much wider belt of material, analogous to the Kuiper belt. The hierarchy of this system is somewhat reminiscent of that of Epsilon Eridani, without an inner asteroid belt.
HD 10647 | Planetary system
Those in 2:3 resonances are known as "plutinos", because Pluto is the largest member of their group, whereas those in 1:2 resonances are known as "". In contrast to the Kuiper belt, the scattered-disc population can be disturbed by Neptune. Scattered-disc objects come within gravitational range of Neptune at their closest approaches (~30 AU) but their farthest distances reach many times that. Ongoing research suggests that the centaurs, a class of icy planetoids that orbit between Jupiter and Neptune, may simply be SDOs thrown into the inner reaches of the Solar System by Neptune, making them "cis-Neptunian" rather than trans-Neptunian scattered objects.
Scattered disc | Scattered disc versus Kuiper belt
In 2003, imaging of the inner region of the Beta Pictoris system with the Keck II telescope revealed the presence of several features which are interpreted as being belts or rings of material. Belts at approximately 14, 28, 52 and 82 astronomical units from the star were detected, which alternate in inclination with respect to the main disk. Observations in 2004 revealed the presence of an inner belt containing silicate material at a distance of 6.4 AU from the star. Silicate material was also detected at 16 and 30 AU from the star, with a lack of dust between 6.4 and 16 AU providing evidence that a massive planet may be orbiting in this region.
Beta Pictoris | Planetesimal belts
Composing with a Möbius transformation that fixes the unit circle it can be assumed that "g" is a reflection in a circle |"z"| = "s" with "s" < 1. It follows that "F" ∘ "h" is a smooth diffeomorphism of the annulus "s" ≤ |"z"| ≤ 1 onto the closure of Ω, holomorphic in the interior. Multiply connected domains. For regions with a higher degree of connectivity "k" + 1, the result is essentially Bers' generalization of the retrosection theorem. There is a smooth diffeomorphism "F" of the region Ω, given by the unit disk with "k" open disks removed, onto the closure of Ω.
Beltrami equation | Uniformization of multiply connected planar domains
By 2018, over 2000 Kuiper belts objects had been discovered. Over one thousand bodies were found in a belt in the twenty years (1992–2012), after finding (named in 2018, 15760 Albion), showing a vast belt of bodies more than just Pluto and Albion. By the 2010s the full extent and nature of Kuiper belt bodies is largely unknown. Finally, in the late 2010s, two KBOs were closely flown past by an unmanned spacecraft, providing much closer observations of the Plutonian system and another KBO. Studies conducted since the trans-Neptunian region was first charted have shown that the region now called the Kuiper belt is not the point of origin of short-period comets, but that they instead derive from a linked population called the scattered disc.
Kuiper belt | Discovery
is a cubewano, a classical, low-eccentricity object in the Kuiper belt, located in between the two resonant plutino and twotino populations, and belongs to the "stirred" hot population rather than to the cold population with low inclinations. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 38.7–53.7 AU once every 313 years and 8 months (114,565 days; semi-major axis of 46.16 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.
(523684) 2014 CQ23 | Orbit and classification
Astronomers sometimes use the alternative name Edgeworth–Kuiper belt to credit Edgeworth, and KBOs are occasionally referred to as EKOs. Brian G. Marsden claims that neither deserves true credit: "Neither Edgeworth nor Kuiper wrote about anything remotely like what we are now seeing, but Fred Whipple did". David Jewitt comments: "If anything ... Fernández most nearly deserves the credit for predicting the Kuiper Belt." KBOs are sometimes called "kuiperoids", a name suggested by Clyde Tombaugh. The term "trans-Neptunian object" (TNO) is recommended for objects in the belt by several scientific groups because the term is less controversial than all others—it is not an exact synonym though, as TNOs include all objects orbiting the Sun past the orbit of Neptune, not just those in the Kuiper belt.
Kuiper belt | Name