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The
Kuiper Belt
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Originally
proposed by Gerard Kuiper in 1951
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First
Kuiper belt object seen in 1992 (talk about going out on a limb)
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Kuiper
belt thought to be a reservoir of chucks of ice that become comets if they
fall toward the sun
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Disk
shaped, in plane of solar system
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50
-- 500 AU
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What
is the asteroid belt's extent
-
2 --
3.5 AU
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Orbits
in Kuiper Belt are ~200 years
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orbits
can be disturbed by outer planets
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as
ice chunck comes toward Sun, becomes a comet (more later)
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Comets
from the Kuiper Belt (or closer) are short period comets
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Comet
Halley orbits every 76 years
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most
(>35,000) just stay out in Kuiper Belt
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