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Kuiper Belt

Introduction
Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud are two regions in space that encircle our solar system. The Kuiper Belt contains thousands of asteroids that circle the Sun outside Neptune's orbit. The Oort Cloud has not been proven to definately exist as yet unlike the Belt. It is believed comets originate from this region in space. To give some idea of where everything is, have a look at the picture below.

Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

You will see from the picture just how distant these things are from us.

In an area just beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt, an area that contains thousands of asteroids. It is named after Gerard Peter Kuiper, a Dutch Born American Astronomer ( Dec 7, 1905 - Dec 23, 1973) who suggested the existance of the Belt. His theory was not confirmed until August 30, 1992 with the discovery of 1992 QB1 object. It has never been given any other name apart from its original designation. The discoverers wanted to call it Smiley but as there was already an object out there with that name, they declined to give it another name.

Its existance had first been put forward by Irish Astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth but he's received little or no recgonition of this.

Sedna was at one time referred to as the solar systems tenth planet. However since then, its claim to that stature has diminished. It is three times the distance from the Sun as Pluto and people are questioning as to whether it is part of the Kuiper Belt or not.

There has been a debate as to what constitutes a planet, some saying Sedna is a planet and some saying that Pluto should no longer have that stature. We may never know for a while until the International Astronomer Union finally comes to a decision. Because of its orbit being so far from Pluto but not nearly as far as where the Oort Cloud is supposed to be, astronomers are wondering if there is another belt, an 'Inner Oort Cloud'.

If you have a powerful telescope and want to know where to look, the following picture will give you an idea where to point the lense. The time given is in Pacific Standard Time, you will need to adjust depending on where in the world you are.
Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

The below table gives brief details of well known Kuiper Belt objects,

NameDesignationDiscovery Date
Chaos1998 WH2419 November 1998
Deucalion1999HU1118 April 1999
Huya2000 EB17310 March 2000
Ixion2001 Kx7622 May 2001
Orcus2004 DWB17 February 2004
Quaoar2002 LM604 June 2002
Rhadamanthus38083 1999HX1117 April 1999
Sedna2003 VB1214 November 2003
Varuna2000 WR 10628 November 2000

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