Abstract: 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.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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