How did the Kuiper Belt form? NASA New Horizons Mission

How did the Kuiper Belt form? NASA New Horizons Mission

When the solar system formed, much of the gas,dust and rocks pulled together to form the sun and planets. The planets then swept most of the remaining debris into the sun or out of the solar system. But bodies farther out remained safe from gravitational tugs of planets like Jupiter, and so they managed to stay safe as they slowly orbited the sun. The Kuiper Belt(KB) and its compatriot, the more distant and spherical Oort cloud, contain the leftover remnants from the beginning of the solar system and can provide valuable insights into its birth.

NASA's new horizons mission was to visit the Pluto system which was launched July 14th.  The mission is to fly by Pluto and Charon and get images and data back to earth. And also to receive more data on Pluto and Charon as well. The remote KBO was one of two identified as potential destinations and the one recommended to NASA by the New Horizons team. Although NASA has selected 2014 MU69 as the target, as part of its normal review process the agency will conduct a detailed assessment before officially approving the mission extension to conduct additional science.

"Even as the New Horizon's spacecraft speeds away from Pluto out into the KB, and the data from the exciting encounter with this new world is being streamed back to earth, we are looking outward to the next destination for this intrepid explorer." said John Grunsfield.

New horizons is said to do a series of four maneuvers in late October and early November to set its course toward 2014 MU69 Nicknamed PT1 for potentail target 1. and experts say they will reach that point on January 1 2019! any delays from that date will cost fuel and add some risk to the mission.


The New Horizons Space Craft

New Horizons Space Craft Citation


There is a lot of equipment and gadgets that are on the New Horizons spacecraft. These equipment on the spacecraft make it possible for the New Horizons team to accomplish their mission. These instruments on the space craft are mostly identified by names of people.

 Starting with...

"Alice" is an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer used primarily to analyze the composition of Pluto's atmosphere.

"Lorri" is an high-resolution optical telescope and camera that will start monitoring Pluto's regularly about 200 days out!!

"Ralph" A combination optical/infrared instrument that will be used to provide color maps of the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, plus compositional and thermal information on the surfaces.

"Pepssi" Particle detection instrument used to detect molecules and atoms escaping from Pluto's atmosphere.

"Swap" Particle instrument used to measure the properties of the solar wind around Pluto.

"Rex" Radio experiment to study Pluto's atmosphere by observing the bending of radio waves beamed up to the craft by giant antennas on earth.

"Student Dust Counter" Devised by undergrads at University of Colorado, will count dust particle impacts from earth all the way into the Kuiper Belt.

Layout and time line of New Horizons Mission 

Timeline of New Horizons Mission Citation

So starting to the left of the timeline January 19, 2006 New Horizons spacecraft  launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The spacecraft is shown in the picture, appearance may be related to a satellite.

Moving from left to right in February 28, 2007 the spacecraft flies by Jupiter for a gravity assist that saves three years of flight time. The team will conduct significant science in preparation for Pluto's encounter.

2007-2014 For the most of the 8 year cruise from Jupiter to Pluto, The craft spins slowly in a state of "hibernation" signalling once a week to assure its "sleeping peacefully". But for about 50 days each year it is awakened to conduct an intensive set of spacecraft and instrument checks as well as navigation measurements to verify the spacecraft is on course.

December 2014 The spacecraft is awakened from its final planned hibernation. Intensive preparations
for the Pluto encounter continue.

July 14, 2015 New Horizons makes its closest approach to Pluto.

2017-2020 With NASA's approval New Horizons can explore suitable, recently discovered Kuiper Belt Objects beyond Pluto. So it is shown that their will be more discoveries regarding Kuiper Belt Objects.
 

Citations 

http://www.space.com/16144-kuiper-belt-objects.html

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20150828

Where it all started

Where the kuiper belt all started! 

Came to light in 1992 Dave Jewitt and Jane Luu in 1992 they were both on the same mindset that the solar system was not empty. Beginning in 1987 they dug deep to find objects beyond Neptune. After 5 years of looking through the University of Hawaii's 2.2m Telescope. They found a reddish colored peak 44 AU from the sun even more distant than Pluto and they wanted to name it "Smiley". but has been cataloged as "1992 GB1". Then came Gernard Kuiper with his insights adding on to theirs.


Dave Jewitt and Jane Luu

 

Dave Jewitt and Jane Luu Image Citation

This is the image of the first citing of QB1



GB1 Citation

University of Hawaii's 2.2m telescope



University of Hawaii's 2.2m telescope

The region is named for the astronomer who predicted its existence Gernard Kuiper. Sometimes called Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt. Recognizing the independent and earlier discussion by Kenneth Edgeworth. The Kuiper Belt objects get their names from diverse mythologies. Eris is named for the greek goddess of discord and strife. Haumea named for a Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth.Pluto was named after the greek god of underworld. Sedna was greek god of sea,Salcia was goddess of sea water,Makemake was greek god of strife and discord,Orcus was greek god of diety hades. The comets are named for the person who discovered them.


Here are the symbols the Kuiper Objects are associated with

Varuna

Ixion


Sedna


Quaoar


Orcus


Makemake


Haumea


Salacia


Eris


Kuiper Belt Symbols Citation




Significant Dates

• 1943: Astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth suggests that a reservoir of comets and larger bodies resides beyond the planets.

• 1951: Astronomer Gerard Kuiper predicts the existence of a belt of icy objects just beyond the orbit of Neptune.

• 1992: After five years of searching, astronomers David Jewitt and Jane Luu discover the first KBO, 1992QB1.

• 2002: Scientists using the 48-inch Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory find Quaoar, the first large KBO hundreds of kilometers in diameter. This object was photographed in 1980, but was not noticed in those images.

• 2004: Astronomers using the 48-inch Oschin telescope announce the discovery of Sedna (2003VB12).

• 2005:Astronomers announce the discovery of 2003UB313. This object, later named Eris, is slightly larger than Pluto.

• 2008: The Kuiper Belt object provisionally known as 2005FY9 "Easterbunny" is recognized in July as a dwarf planet and named Makemake after the Polynesian (Rapa Nui) creation god. In September, 2003EL61 "Santa" was designated a dwarf planet and given the name Haumea after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth.

Citations

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/kbos/indepth

What is the Kuiper Belt?

What is the Kuiper Belt?

"The Kuiper Belt(KB) is a disk shaped population of comet nuclei extending from Neptune's orbit to perhaps thousands of astronomical units from the sun"(Kay360). The highly populated innermost part of the KB has an outer edge of approximately 50 AU from the sun.

The KB is similar to the asteroid belt found between the orbits of mars and Jupiter, but it is 20 times as wide and somewhere between 20-200 times more massive. The KB is a region from the outside of Neptune's orbit to the farthest point of Pluto's orbit.

Also in 1992 the first Kuiper Belt Object(KBO) was discovered.

The KB was named after Gernald Kuiper! Who proposed its existence in 1951!




Gerard Kuiper Image Citation



The KB is flat and disk like.




Kuiper Belt Image Citation

The Kuiper belt is made up of KB Objects also known as transneptunians objects explained in first blog.

I found a great picture that shows the KBO's and the layout of it all. It shows the layout of it all beginning at Sun, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto. What i find useful of this image is it shows the Heliosphere and the Interstellar Medium in a bigger picture. This allows us to see the relationship of the KB and the Oort Cloud. It also has a scale that goes across the picture horizontally that shows the distances in AU.




Kuiper Belt Layout Citation


Another interesting point that intrigued me was how the KB has a relationship to earth! We all may think that the KB is just some thing in the universe that has no relationship to us. But in fact it does! How so? "Scientist think that some of earth's water was contributed during the impacts of icy planetisimals early in the history of the solar system"(Kay387). Those icy planestisimals about half of them were flung outward from the KB and Oort Cloud! The other half was flung toward the sun. Some of those flung toward the sun were believed likely to hit earth!! So because much of the comet nuclei and asteroids are forms of water ice, it is said that some of earths water came from this early bombardment. I found that very amusing because it shows how the KB had some impact on the water we have on earth!

Some interesting facts of the Kuiper Belt!

1. The KB could contain hundreds of thousands of ice bodies that range in size from small chunks of ice to worldlets larger than 100 kilometers across.

2. Astronomers have tracked most short period comets from their origins in the KB. These comets with orbital periods of 200 years or less.

3. There could be more than a trillion comet nuclei in the main body of the KB.

4. The largest KBO's are Pluto, Quasor, Makemake, Haumea, Ixion, and Varuna, These are referred to as trans-neptunian objects.

5. The first mission to the KB and beyond will fly by Pluto in July 2015. Its called new horizons and will survey Pluto, Charon and the other moons before heading out to study other KBO's in the future.

Kay, Laura, Stacy Palen, Brad Smith, and George Blumenthal. The Solar System. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

21st Century Astronomy Stars and Galaxies. N.p.: W W Norton & Co, 2016. Print.

http://space-facts.com/kuiper-belt/

http://theplanets.org/kuiper-belt/

What is found in the Kuiper Belt? 

There are dwarf planets found in the Kuiper Belt.  They are objects smaller than planets "The current definition of a planet is an object 1. orbits the sun, 2. is large enough to pull itself into a round shape, and 3. has cleared the area around its orbit"(Kay).

"Objects smaller than this are categorized as dwarf planets, asteroids, Kuiper belt objects (KBO'S), comets, and meteoroids"(Kay). "Dwarf planets category was defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006"(Kay). But since they do not meet the criteria of the third point they are found in the Kuiper belt and asteroid belt.

Also there are several Kuiper Belt objects.  The several objects are Pluto, Quaoar, Makemake, Haumea, Orcus, Varuna, And Eris. The Picture below shows the several Kuiper belt objects. Found from 

Kuiper Belt Image Citation

This shows the sizes and colors of each object. it is a great picture that allows everyone to visually see what the objects actually look like and will give everyone a better feel as of what the Kuiper belt objects are. These objects are hard to see in space but they used digital cameras to get a close view and picture of these objects.

Kuiper belt objects are also referred to as trans-neptunian objects. They are ice planetesimal comet nucleus that orbit within the Kuiper belt beyond the orbit of Neptune. Kuiper belt objects are hard to determine as well, the sizes are sizes make this difficult. The albedos are uncertain. Astronomers found more than 1,000 KBO's. But there are more smaller ones that do exist. 

Not only do dwarf planets are in the region of the Kuiper belt but comets are also in that region. The Kuiper belt comets were named for a scientist Gerard Kuiper in 1905-1973. Comets from the Kuiper belt orbit the sun in a disk shape showed in the image below from 

This image shows how the comets orbit the sun in the picture you can see the black dots are the comets and they are orbiting the sun and it states a comet spends most of its time in outer solar system. The orbit of the comets are in a disk shape region about 30 to 50 AU beginning at about the orbit of Neptune.

Comets In Kuiper Belt Citation



A picture of Kuiper belt objects are shown in the green also shows the comet nuclei near the inner solar system. It demonstrates how they form and an extension to the disk of the solar system known as the Kuiper belt. This was from our text book. i found that this shows it great.

A picture of a comet is shown below to get a better understanding visually of what it looks like. found from  

Close up of Comet Citation

Also the Kuiper belt contains tens of thousands of ice planetestimals. the larger KBO's are alike to the size of pluto and eris. A excellent image below shows what it looks like. i found this picture from 

Plantestimals Picture Citation

 This shows how many of these ice planetestimals there are around the Kuiper belt. The Comets in the Kuiper belt are close together and close enough to interact gravitationally from time to time. so in this case 1 nucleus will gain enough energy while others losses it. The so called "winner" that gains more energy gets sent into an orbit that reaches beyond the boundary of the Kuiper belt.

There are also short period comets and long period comets. Short period comets originated in the Kuiper belt. The comets have 3 parts. Three parts of the comet are coma, head, and tail.

Kay, Laura, Stacy Palen, Brad Smith, and George Blumenthal. The Solar System. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

21st Century Astronomy Stars and Galaxies. N.p.: W W Norton & Co, 2016. Print.

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