Kuiper

More evidence that the Kuiper Belt is bigger than we thought

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The Kuiper Belt was named in honor of Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who postulated a reservoir of icy bodies beyond Neptune. The first Kuiper Belt object was discovered in 1992. We now know of more than a thousand objects there, and it's estimated it's home to more than 100,000 asteroids and comets there over 62 miles (100 km) across. Credit: JHUAPL

As the New Horizons spacecraft continues its epic journey to explore the Kuiper Belt, it has a study partner here on Earth. The Subaru Telescope on Hawaii’s Big Island is deploying its Hyper Suprime Cam imager to view the Kuiper Belt along the spacecraft’s path. The observations show that the Kuiper Belt extends farther than … Read more