The Kuiper Belt is a ring of space rocks surrounding the outskirts of the solar system, around the orbit of Pluto and beyond. The formation is similar to the inner asteroid belt, and is one of the major sources for the comets that pass through our solar system. The Belt contains a large number of significant objects,... |
6 November 2009
08:51 GMT |
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Under the new International Astronomical Union (IAU) classification, Pluto and the other larger celestial bodies circling the Sun behind it are dwarf planets. Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake are all considered to be too small to fit the new planetary category. One of the most peculiar such objects is Haumea, a body... |
16 September 2009
02:51 GMT |
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The dwarf planet of Haumea, the third largest in the Kuiper Belt after Pluto and Eris, was discovered a few days after the Christmas of 2004, on December 28th, by Mike Brown, a Caltech scientist. Its observed characteristics indicate that it has a violent past, marked by a massive collision with a similar object bill... |
16 October 2008
08:39 GMT |
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