Le site de vulgarisation scientifique de l’Université de Liège. ULg, Université de Liège
KUIPER BELT

The Kuiper belt is a ring with a vast population of small frozen objects (comets, asteroids, ...). In the Solar System plane, the Kuiper belt extends just beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, the farthest planets. The Kuiper belt takes its name from the astronomer Gerard Kuiper who predicted its existence in 1951 based on theoretical developments. We would have to wait until the 1990s to have the first observational evidence of its existence.


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