The Kuiper Belt is a ‘belt-like’ disc in our outer Solar System that extends from the orbit of Neptune at about 30 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun to approximately 50 AU [1]. It is like a larger version of the asteroid belt, and is mostly made up of remnants of the formation of our Solar system [2]. As the Kuiper Belt gets further away from the Sun, it also becomes denser. At its section that should be the densest it instead stops suddenly, and this abrupt ending is known as the Kuiper Cliff. The reason for this dramatic falloff is thus unknown [3], but there is one interesting theory. Patryk Lykawka of Kobe University claims that the gravitational pull of a so far unseen planet may be responsible for the behavior of the Kuiper Belt. …show more content…
So, if there is one there, why can we not see it? There are many possibilities. If there is sentient life on this mysterious planet, it is possible they would have superior technology than the technology we have here on earth. Superior technology that could give them the ability to hide or camouflage their planet from anyone they did not wish to know about its existence. Another possibility is that the planet is made of a substance that we currently have no knowledge of. As of now we know of the existence of dark matter and dark energy, but we do not know what they are exactly. Scientists have also discovered tetra neutrons, which are stable clusters of four neutrons, and which some claim are the nuclei of “element zero”, an element that is missing from the periodic table [7]. It is possible that this hidden planet might be similar to how Ultra-Violet light is to the human eye; that is to say, even though we know it’s there, we are simply unable to see …show more content…
Just because the planet is not within what we call the “Goldilocks Zone” does not mean that there is no possibility for life. Some television shows and movies have theorized that not all life may be carbon-based like the life on our planet is. The conditions and atmosphere of a planet in the outer reaches of our solar system might be ideal for a strain of life that we have never considered. If they are able to conceal a whole planet from us, then these aliens would likely have superior knowledge and technology than us. These hidden aliens could be responsible for all sorts of strange phenomenon that occur, everything from UFO sightings and alleged abductions, to the disappearance of historical figures and what we refer to as ‘lost
Of the more than 1,000 known objects in the Kuiper Belt, 2003 UB313 and Pluto are the largest and second largest (Brown 17-19.) Brown's states a fact of how many objects (nearly 1,000) in the Kuiper Belt are smaller than UB313 and Pluto. They are still considered bigger than what an asteroid is and still be deemed as a planet. “But subsequent study showed that Pluto is puny, barely a quarter the size of our own Moon. And we now know that Planet X never existed, the product of some subtle errors in some century-old mathematical calculations. While the first eight planets all rule their orbits,” (Gaensler 37-39.) Gaensler says in article that Pluto should not have been started as a planet because of subtle errors in some century-old mathematical calculations. Pluto was too small to be considered a planet, and should only have the first eight planets rule their orbits. From these quotes from the two articles, we learn that facts for the Pluto’s size being bigger than what people think. Pluto is basically can be a “continents” because there is large continents while small ones. If Pluto is the second largest object in the Kuiper Belt, it should be considered a planet in our eyes. The article, “Why Pluto had to go”, talks about how the size of the our moon being larger than Pluto. Pluto size doesn’t even compare to our Moon so why should it be consider a planet. I think we can learn that the first eight planets that were the largest in size should be only the ones called
Korff also states, “In what is now known as the ‘the Roswell incident,’ the U.S. military is said to have quickly covered up the affair and continues to shroud it in extreme secrecy even today.”
Astronomers have identified plenty of objects that were circulating the sun farther away from Neptune since the year 1992. According to research, there are more than 70,000 of these small objects named as Trans-Neptunians, which had a diameter that was larger than 100 km. Also, these objects extended from Neptune’s orbit from 30 astronomical units (AU) to 50 astronomical units. There is a thick band in which these Trans-Neptunians were restricted in and this ring was named as the Kuiper Belt. One may ponder what is the significance of the Kuiper Belt? Astronomers believe that the objects within the Kuiper Belt may be the ancient remains from the early stages of development of the solar system.
Even though the inner and outer planets are very similar, they also have quite a few differences.Even though the inner and outer planets may have the same orbit plane and they both do not use their own light they are also different in size and their composition.
thousands of small icy bodies orbit the sun. The planet appears to be typical of Kuiper Belt objects--only
The size also awards it the title of being bigger than Eris, a mini-planet that circles Neptune in the Kuiper Belt.
At the end of our Solar System lies a small a small planet, smaller than any of the other planets, Pluto. In 1905, Lowell, an american astronomer, found the force of gravity of some unknown planet that is affect the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. In 1915 he predicted the location of a new planet. Lowell used a telescope to scope the sky where he thought that the planet would be discovered at. However, Lowell died without actually discovering Pluto. In 1930 Clyde W Tombaugh took over Lowell’s research on Pluto. He used predictions made by Lowell and other astronomers and photographed the sky with a more powerful telescope. After he examined the photos he found Pluto. Lowell and Tombaugh's work helped to find the ninth planet in the solar system,
Occasionally, the planet might pass in between you and its star, briefly blocking some of the starlight. If this dimming happened with enough frequency, you might be able to infer the presence of the planet, even if you can't see it. This, is essence, is the transit method of detecting exoplanets, responsible for the majority of our exoplanet discoveries so far.” (link). Certain exoplanets known as “Hot Jupiters” are easier to find than others.
A comet in the Kuiper Belt would be affected by the presence of the planets in the solar system, not only the Sun. While the Sun has a huge mass, it is more massive than any of the planets in the solar system, it is far enough away from objects within the Kuiper Belt that its affect is comparable to the planets which lay closer. Since all planets within the solar system have significant gravitational fields (particularly the gas planets), its affect on a comet orbiting the Sun may change the shape of the comet's orbit into elliptical or other shaped paths.
We live in a universe that is about 46 billion light years old. In a world, as massive as ours there must be some form of extraterrestrial life out in the galaxy. For thousands of years ancient peoples, such as the Greeks, have wondered the same question. Are we alone? As our technology advances, things such as videos and photographs are surfacing of people claiming to see such alien life. Whether it is an unidentified flying object, or if it’s from someone claiming to see an actual alien, there are thousands of people that believe they have seen proof. Some also claim that the government is hiding things behind our backs, like the Roswell UFO incident for example. Though many people refuse to believe in the existence of alien life forms until they see evidence, the fact that multitudes of people have eye-witness accounts, the improbability that we are alone, and the idea that we have thought of aliens so long, bring forth the evidence that proves something is out there.
With all our knowledge of everything around us, overwhelming as it may be, there are still a lot of aspects that are unknown to even the smartest scientists. Did you know that humans know only 5% of the entire universe? Yes, everything we know about the Earth, the Milky Way, and all the planets is barely even a fourth of what comprises the entirety of the universe. Knowing that, it would be illogical to say that the creatures on Earth are the only forms of life in the universe. Today I will tell you about unidentified object sightings, close
Since Pluto was subjected to reclassification in the year 2006, our planetary family has possessed eight official members although there is tantalizing new evidence that gives the suggestion that a ninth world, ten times the mass of the Earth, might linger at the extreme, cold edges of the solar system.
Aliens and life beyond earth has been a mystery for a long time. Many people and scientist have been looking for life outside of Earth, or just floating in the sky trying to get video of it. For all of human history we have been looking for extraterrestrial life, and these are the major events of finding, debunking, and moving forward to life on earth
Most astronomers and scientists seem firmly convinced of this fact. Although there is not any direct (or even indirect) evidence to support these claims that other sentient life is sharing the universe with us. However, this lack of evidence showing that extraterrestrial life forms exist is not proof that they do not exist. It just does not seem logical that our planet is the only place where life and intelligence could have developed. The odds are billions against life of some form being unique to the Earth only. The Earth is unimportant in the grand scale of things in the galaxy. By this I am referring to its' size and position in the universe. In fact, the American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests that the true question that we should be
To begin with, there is more than one sun out there in space, and a sun can contain about one million planets in space. Scientists have discovered about one thousand planets orbiting distant stars. They have much more to discover! There is a big possibility that in one of those planets life could exist. Another big clue that scientist have discovered is that there are many galaxies in space and we live in one. The galaxy that Earth is located at is called the Milky Way Galaxy. A galaxy can contain many planets just like our galaxy can contains over billions of planets.