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Beyond the orbits oI our Solar System`s planets there are countless other celestial bodies also
orbiting the Sun. Venture past Neptune and you`ll Iind yourselI Iirst in the Kuiper Belt, a
conceptualized band encircling the inner Solar System. Its boundary begins at 30 AU and extends to
50 AU Irom the Sun, and here orbit a concentration oI icy bodies and planetesimals, mostly along the
plane oI the ecliptic. While this marks the extent oI the more densely populated area oI our Solar
System, a journey to 5,000 AU Irom the Sun will take you to the inner boundary oI another territory:
the Oort Cloud. Home to the icy bodies we occasionally see as long-period comets, these objects orbit
at any and all inclinations to the ecliptic, giving the impression oI a spherical cloud encompassing
everything gravitationally bound to our Sun. The outer boundary oI the Oort Cloud is estimated at
between 50,000 and 100,000 AU Irom the Sun; beyond this distance another star`s gravity will
dominate. (Knocke)
The Kuiper Belt itselI was named posthumously Ior the Dutch-American astronomer Gerard
Kuiper, whose many contributions to the study oI this region earned him its namesake. (Kuiper)
Perhaps the most Iamous Kuiper Belt object is the dwarI planet Pluto. Once considered a planet
outright, it was the discovery oI other, similar bodies in the Kuiper Belt which Iirst called scientists to
question Pluto`s planetary designation. Pluto was predicted in 1905 by Percival Lowell, as the orbits oI
Neptune and Uranus showed disruptions Irom beyond. Its existence was conIirmed by use oI a blink
comparator in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who was then working at the Lowell
Observatory. An eleven year old English girl gave Pluto its name, honoring the Roman god oI the
underworld, and also Percival Lowell with its Iirst two letters. (Choi)
Pluto`s orbit is so elliptical that it spends 20 years oI its 248-year revolution inside the orbit oI
Neptune. Because Pluto is so distant, averaging over 3.6 billion miles (39 AU) Irom the Sun, scientists
have relied on its time oI perihelion to gather more precise inIormation. It is believed to have a rocky
core surrounded by an icy mantle, with methane and nitrogen Irost coating its surIace. When close to
the Sun its surIace cools enough to give Pluto an atmosphere, but with an average surIace temperature
oI only 47 K (-375 F) it spends most oI its year Irozen solid. Pluto`s magnetic Iield is weak at best, and
its rotation slow. Its largest moon, Charon, is so close in size and mass to Pluto`s (nearly halI) that the
two are oIten considered a double planet system, orbiting a common center oI mass outside oI either
body. Pluto`s diameter is a scant 1,430 miles, or about two thirds that oI Earth`s moon. Its density is
about a third oI Earth`s. (Choi)


(Moon) An artist`s rendition oI Pluto and Charon Irom another oI its moons.

Pluto is just one oI many Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), and here others deserve considerable
mention. II celestial bodies have nemeses, perhaps Eris would be Pluto`s, Ior until Eris was discovered
in 2005 Pluto had a Iairly secure designation as our ninth planet. Eris was named by its discovery team
Ior the Greek goddess oI discord and striIe, beIitting oI an object who stirred so much controversy in
the world oI appropriate planetary parameter assignment. With an orbit extending to over 68 AU, and
an orbital period oI 557 Earth years, Eris is distant enough that its precise size is unknown. But by use
oI the orbit oI its moon, Dysnomia, scientists have estimated its size to be very close to Pluto`s. This
similarity in size was Iurther cause Ior the latter`s planetary status to appear dubious, and in 2006 both
were declared dwarI planets. (Solar)
Eris was discovered at the Palomar Observatory in southern CaliIornia by a team oI scientists
Irom various institutions. With an eccentricity oI .433, its orbit is so elliptical that during aphelion it is
taken Iar beyond the limits oI the Kuiper Belt. Both Eris and Pluto orbit on inclinations oII oI the plane
oI the ecliptic, though at 46 degrees Eris`s is much more extreme than Pluto`s 17. Other signiIicant
KBOs include Haumea and Makemake, discoveries which were also announced in 2005. With orbits
averaging around 45 AU, and periods oI 285 and 310 Earth years, respectively, they are not dissimilar
to Pluto and Eris, and hence have joined the ranks oI the dwarI planets. Both are close to Pluto in size
as well, but Haumea is unusual in its elongated shape. A Haumean day is only Iour hours long, and
because it rotates so rapidly its diameter is about 1,200 miles at its equator, and only about 600 miles at
its poles! Along with Ceres, which orbits in the Asteroid Belt, these comprise the known dwarI planets
oI our Solar System. (Solar)


(Hurt) A depiction oI the gas giant planets, Pluto, and the Kuiper Belt.

It is oI little surprise that this process oI discovery is Iar Irom complete. Last month scientists
announced a new dwarI planet candidate, temporarily called 2012 VP113, and aIIectionately dubbed
Biden.` Because Biden`s orbit brings it only as close as 80 AU Irom the Sun, it is Iirmly entrenched not
in the Kuiper Belt, but in a region known as the inner Oort Cloud. This area is hypothesized as a
relatively sparsely populated band connecting the outer edge oI the Kuiper Belt to the Oort Cloud
proper. Biden`s orbital year is 4,313 Earth years, and it shares similarity in placement to another inner
Oort Cloud object called Sedna, which was discovered in 2003 near its time oI perihelion at 76 AU.
Although Sedna and Biden were spotted at similar distances, Sedna`s orbit will take it to 937 AU Irom
the Sun over the period 11,400 years, while Biden`s will keep it no Iurther Irom us than a cozy 449 AU.
(Solar)
The Chilean Magellan 6.5 meter telescope was used to measure Biden`s properties, and its
discovery team included some oI the same heavy hitters Irom previous dwarI planet Iindings: Chad
Trujillo and Scott Sheppard. (Solar) Like most KBOs and Oort Cloud objects it is very cold, and
composed primarily oI methane and water ices, with other elements showing trace amounts in their
spectrums. II Biden and Sedna can be shown to have enough gravity to pull themselves into a nearly
spherical shape, they will meet the requirements oI dwarI planet status. But even more exciting is the
possibility oI an even more distant planet believed to be ten times the size oI Earth. Disruptions in the
orbits oI these two dwarI planet candidates, which are much too Iar away to be aIIected by Neptune,
have suggested one such object exists. (Planets)
While long hypothesized, direct evidence Ior the Kuiper belt was not conIirmed until 1992,
when object 1992 QB1 was discovered by David Juitt and Jane Luu, and was Iollowed shortly by the
discovery oI another small object in this region, both by the use oI blink comparators and CCDs.
Today over 1,300 KBOs have been identiIied. While the Kuiper Belt was originally described an
explanation Ior the origin oI short-period comets traveling generally along the plane oI the ecliptic, some
scientists have since assigned those origins to an overlapping zone called the Scattered Disc. While
KBOs are locked into orbital ratios with Neptune, the orbits oI Scattered Disc Objects, or SBOs, are
disrupted and 'scattered by Neptune. Regardless oI this SBO distinction, all agree that comets with
orbital periods under 200 years are Irom the area encompassed by the Kuiper Belt. (Scattered)
Comets` orbits are highly elliptical, and they thereIore enter the inner Solar System inIrequently,
though at close range. They are mostly ices, dust, and organic material, with a small Irozen nucleus
which heats up as it nears the Sun, producing an atmosphere, or coma. From this coma extends a dust
tail and an ion tail, both blown away Irom the Sun by its winds, and producing a very dramatic eIIect in
the sky. (Solar) The most Iamous oI these is Comet Halley, whose orbital period is 76 years, and it
appears Iirst in the written record in 239 BC. It wasn`t, however, until the 1730s that Edmund Halley
predicted its return in 1758. Though he died beIore then, the comet indeed returned and was given his
name. (Howell)
Comets and other KBOs are believed to be 4.6 billion year old material Irom our Solar
System`s Iormation, and are thereIore oI very keen interest to astronomers. Anticipating Comet
Halley`s return in 1986, several countries sent spacecraIt to visit it. The closest encounter was by
Giotto oI the European Space Agency, which gathered surprising inIormation about the majority organic
composition oI this comet, and also took the photo shown below. (Solar)

(Comets)
Long-period comets, by contrast, come to us Irom the Oort Cloud, an area so distant that their
orbits take thousands oI years to complete, and thereIore can not be anticipated until they are within
observational distance Irom Earth. Like KBOs, Oort Cloud objects are composed mostly oI water ice,
methane and ammonia. While comets comprise the bulk oI identiIied Oort Cloud objects, scientist have
observed Iour other bodies whose orbits suggest these origins. (Cessna)


(Oort)
The Oort Cloud`s existence was Iirst hypothesized by astronomer Jan Oort in 1950. His data
and observations oI long-period comets showed him that many oI their orbital radii were around 20,000
AU, suggesting a concentration oI objects in a cloud at this distance. Entering at all inclinations to the
ecliptic, these objects must have Iormed not in their current orbits, but closer in, only to be subsequently
Ilung outward in every direction by the immense gravity oI the gas giant planets. Here they were held in
a sort oI reservoir, he postulated, until the Iorces oI a passing star, or our galaxy itselI, once again
disturbed their orbits and sent them on an inward, elliptical trajectory. Had they always been in such an
orbit, their periodic close passage to the Sun would have long-since caused them to burn up. (Oort)
While the Oort Cloud is too distant Ior us to imagine a mission any time soon, the Kuiper Belt
will soon be visited by NASA`s New Horizon spacecraIt. Launched in 2006, it will reach Pluto in
2015, equipped to study the dwarI planet`s moons, atmosphere, and surIace. It will then travel onward
to study another KBO. (New)
Because Oort Cloud comets do enter our inner solar system, we have studied them on several
oI their close passages. The 2004 Stardust mission to Comet Wild 2 collected samples showing
minerals which Iormed near the Sun or another star, providing Iurther evidence that comets begin in
close orbit. The Deep Impact mission oI 2005 successIully executed a planned collision with Comet
Temple 1, providing detailed images and Iurther compositional analysis. (Comets) Currently, a
European-launched comet-lander called Philae is en route to Comet 67P, scheduled Ior arrival in
November. (Amos) While still an emerging Iield oI study, its meteoric rise promises rapid advances in
our understanding oI these most distant members oI our Solar System.

(Comets)

Comets, like other rare celestial events, have oIten been regarded as harbingers oI change.
Halley appears on a 1066 tapestry Ior William the Conqueror, who Ielt the comet heralded his success
in invading England. (Howell) Hale-Bopp`s coincident timing with the dawn oI the internet age gave it
unprecedented celebrity status, and called a group oI 39 cult members to commit suicide as it
approached perihelion. I myselI recall Hale-Bopp`s arrival as the start oI a new era in my liIe, being the
Iirst oI many seasons spent sleeping under clear desert skies. The writer Mark Twain was born near
Halley`s arrival in 1835, and in 1909 declared he would go out with it the next year. He died as he
wished during perihelion on April 21, 1910; a worthy means oI measuring a good liIe. (Howell)