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Kuiper Belt

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 101 Accesses

Keywords

Centaurs, composition, ices, organics, origin, planetesimals, transneptunian objects, volatiles

Definition

The Kuiper Belt is the region in the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune that contains icy bodies orbiting the Sun.

Overview

In the last decades, the outer solar system has been found to be densely populated by a multitude of icy bodies called Kuiper Belt objects, Edgeworth–Kuiper objects, or Trans-Neptunian Objects. The discovery of these bodies revolutionized our understanding of the solar system and most ideas relative to the evolution of the protoplanetary nebula. The general interest in the outer solar system grew rapidly in the scientific community. In fact, these bodies located so far from the Sun are considered as the fossils of the protoplanetary disk, which, consequently, can provide important information on the processes that dominated the evolution of the early solar nebula as well as of other planetary systems around young stars.

Trans-Neptunian objects...

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References and Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon Principal Cedex, France

    Dr. Maria Antonietta Barucci

Authors
  1. Dr. Maria Antonietta Barucci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Antonietta Barucci .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Astrophysicist, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, BP 89, 33270, Floirac, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  2. Departamento de Planetología y Habitabilidad Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Campus Cantoblanco, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  3. Department of Astrophysics, Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC) Ctra de Ajalvir km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  5. Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts Lederle Graduate Research, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003-9305, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. GEOTOP & Départment des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Daniele L. Pinti

  7. Astrobiology, CNES/DSP/EU, 2 place Maurice-Quentin, 75039, Paris, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Barucci, M.A. (2011). Kuiper Belt. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_854

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