Objects Beyond Neptune

Alexis Gloria, Gabe Cardenas, John Trevino

Kuiper Belt Starting in 1992,

astronomers have become aware of a vast population of small bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune.

Here are at least 70,000 trans-Neptunians with diameters larger than 100 km in the radial zone extending outwards from the orbit of Neptune at 30 AU to 50 AU.

Kuiper Belt Observations show that the

trans-Neptunians are mostly confined within a thick band around the ecliptic, leading to the realization that they occupy a ring or belt surrounding the sun. This ring is generally referred to as the Kuiper Belt.

The Kuiper Belt holds significance for the study of the planetary system on at least two levels.

Kuiper Belt Pluto, Ceres, and Haumea

are some of the largest celestial bodies in this belt.

Some people say that with the large amount of asteroids and comets in this belt, there is a probability that one with go off course and could possible collide with the earth causing wide-spead destruction of our planet.

Ceres Largest object in the

Kuiper Belt. Composed of rock and

ice and composes 1/3 of the mass of the Kuiper Belt

It was the first asteroid to be discovered.

Even at its brightest it is still too dim to be seen with the naked eye from earth.

Ceres It has a rocky core and an

icy mantle The surface of Ceres is

made up of a mixture of water ice and various hydrated minerals

It is hypothesized by some to have an internal ocean of liquid water under a layer of ice on the surface.

In 2014, water vapor was detected from several regions of Ceres.

Ceres Recently, the spacecraft,

Dawn, entered orbit around Ceres on March 6th of this year.

The categorization of Ceres has changed many time and has been the subject of a lot of disagreement.

Strange bright spots on the surface of Ceres continue to pop up and mystify scientists.

Eris

Eris is the most massive dwarf planet know in the solar system.

Eris is larger than Pluto.

The dwarf planet was discovered in January 2005 and was identified later that year.

Eris

It has one known moon,

Because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, NASA initially described it as the Solar System's 10th planet

Haumea

It was discovered in 2004

On September 17, 2008, it was recognized as a dwarf planet by international astromical union (IAU) and named after Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth.

Haumea Haumea's mass is about

one-third that of Pluto, and 1/1400 that of Earth

Although its shape has not been directly observed, calculations from its light curve suggest it is an ellipsoid, with its major axis twice as long as its minor

Haumea

Nonetheless, its gravity is believed sufficient for it to have relaxed into hydrostatic equilibrium, making it a dwarf planet

Makemake

is a dwarf planet and perhaps the largest Kuiper belt object (KBO) in the classical population

Makemake

Makemake has no known satellites, which makes it unique among the largest KBOs and means that its mass can only be estimated

Makemake

Makemake was discovered on March 31, 2005, by a team led by Michael Brown, and announced on July 29, 2005. Initially, it was known as 2005 FY9 and later given the minor-planet number 136472.

Kanye approves this presentation