Abstract
The Kuiper belt stretches beyond the orbit of Neptune to an orbital distance of about 50 astronomical units from the Sun. The known objects in the Kuiper belt are icy bodies of up to about the size of Pluto, one of the biggest objects in the Kuiper belt. Centaurs are icy bodies that have escaped from the Kuiper belt by dynamical interaction with outer solar system bodies. This chapter describes the discoveries of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and Centaurs and our knowledge about their physical properties, mostly from telescope observations. The data include brightnes, albedo and chemistry, diameter and mass, and period of rotation. The New Horizons mission will fly by Pluto as the first KBO in 2015 and possibly other KBOs thereafter.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of the Solar System |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Pages | 941-955 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780124158450 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780124160347 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2014 |
Keywords
- Centaurs
- Charon
- KBO
- KBO binaries
- Kuiper Belt
- New Horizons
- Pluto
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences
- General Engineering