Kuiper belt: generalplanets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stabilityThe Kuiper belt is a population of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. A particularly puzzling and up-to-now unexplained feature of the Kuiper belt is the so-called `kernel', a concentration of orbits with semi...
2. Reaching the Kuiper belt (which begins at Neptune) requires a great deal of delta-v. Even if you were to slingshot around gas giants (which, in the current explanation, is not shown in the diagram), the trip would consume the majority of a spacecraft's propellant, making the ...
On average, 10 long-period and 20 short-period comets cross Earth's orbit each year. Short-periodcomets orbit the Sunin less than 200 years and exist in the Kuiper Belt just beyond Neptune, while long-period comets take longer to orbit the Sun and exist in the Oort Cloud even farther a...
which are caught in a 1:2 resonance with Neptune – and which are found towards the outer edge of the Kuiper belt. The new simulations show that these lines of resonances are almost like
Planet Puzzle: The Mystery of the Disappearing Disks Asteroid and Kuiper Belt Objects: News Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Michael Schirber Con...
Silent polymorphisms (those that do not change the amino acid in the encoded protein) have only in the last decade attracted increasing attention [1]. This kind of polymorphism can produce different effects on gene expression and lead to functional differences of diverse significance. Several recent...
it would be so close to the expanded sun that everything on the surface would incinerate. But the sun's transformation into a red giant will only push its habitable zone further, and this could potentially make icy dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, such as Eris, into oases of liquid wate...
We show that a passing star probably scattered Sedna from the Kuiper Belt into its observed orbit. The likelihood that a planet at 60-80 AU can be scattered into Sedna's orbit is roughly 50%; this estimate depends critically on the geometry of the flyby. Even more interesting, though, ...
less than 200 years and exist in the Kuiper Belt just beyond Neptune, while long-period comets take longer to orbit the Sun and exist in the Oort Cloud even farther away. With an orbital period of about 71 years, the dubbed "devil comet" has made a closer-than-ever pass-by of Earth...
Peter N. Spotts writer of The Christian Science Monitor