#kuiper-belt — Public Fediverse posts

"Pluto-like world’s thin atmosphere poses a mystery" by @cosmiclog / @alanboyle - A thin atmosphere may have been observed around a #KuiperBelt object a quarter Pluto's size. As the minor planet crossed in front of a star, telescopes saw light go out and come back slowly rather than instantly. And since Alan is author of "The Case for Pluto" book, he mentions a recent public discussion among politicians about reclassifying Pluto as a planet. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/08/pluto-like-worlds-thin-atmosphere-poses-a-mystery/ #astronomy #planetary #science

Just catching up with this week's big news from the #KuiperBelt - about a mini-world that shouldn't have an atmosphere but apparently does. I also manage to wedge in a word about #Pluto. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/08/pluto-like-worlds-thin-atmosphere-poses-a-mystery/ #Space #TNO

Pluto-like world’s thin atmosphere poses a mystery
Scientists are puzzling over another oddball on the edge of the solar system: This time, it's an icy object less than a quarter of Pluto's size with a thin atmosphere – a layer of gas that's not typically found around objects so small.

A Japanese team of researchers — including an amate
https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/08/pluto-like-worlds-thin-atmosphere-poses-a-mystery/
#UniverseToday #Astronomy #KuiperBelt #Pluto #SolarSystem #Space

#mwgic #2026 #space #KuiperBelt #Object #Atmosphere #Discovered

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02846-1

"This spacecraft is so far away, it sees stars differently. Here's how it could help us navigate the cosmos" by BBC @skyatnightmag - Using parallax to compare different perspectives of telescopes on Earth and aboard the #NASA #NewHorizons probe in the #KuiperBelt, astronomers confirmed the stars Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 appear at slightly different but mathematically expected angles against more distant background stars. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/new-horizons-stellar-parallax-experiment #astronomy #science

Measuring the mean plane of the distant Kuiper belt: https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/543/1/L27/8239273 -> A Survey of the #KuiperBelt Hints at an Unseen Planet: https://eos.org/articles/a-survey-of-the-kuiper-belt-hints-at-an-unseen-planet - an analysis of more than 150 objects in the far reaches of the solar system suggests that a planet more massive than Mercury could be lurking beyond the orbit of Pluto.

A Survey of the Kuiper Belt Hints at an Unseen Planet

An analysis of more than 150 objects in the far reaches of the solar system suggests that a planet more massive than Mercury could be lurking beyond the orbit of Pluto. Suggested name: Planet Y.

https://eos.org/articles/a-survey-of-the-kuiper-belt-hints-at-an-unseen-planet

#PlanetY #KuiperBelt #planet #planets #astrodon #astronomy #space #science #news

The hunt for ‘planet nine’: why there could still be something massive at the edge of the Solar System
#Astronomy #Pluto #Neptune #Planet9 #SolarSystem #KuiperBelt #SpaceDiscovery #PlanetX #OuterSpace #Astrophysics #NASA #Sednoid #SpaceExploration
https://the-14.com/the-hunt-for-planet-nine-why-there-could-still-be-something-massive-at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system/

Evidence of controversial #Planet9 uncovered in sky surveys taken 23 years apart
If the object really is #PlanetNine, it would be larger than Neptune and exist 700 times further from the sun than Earth.
Planet Nine was put forward in 2016 by Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin of the California Institute of Technology to explain an unusual bunching of orbits of some objects in the #KuiperBelt, such as #Sedna.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/solar-system/evidence-of-controversial-planet-9-uncovered-in-sky-surveys-taken-23-years-apart

The discovery 🔭 has significant consequences for the understanding of those areas in the #SolarSystem behind the orbit of #Neptune. Until now, it had been assumed that although the #KuiperBelt exists there, it is “essentially empty” behind it. The discovery now suggests that this is not the case. Instead, there could be around 100 other objects that are similar in size 📏 and orbit to #2017OF https://www.heise.de/en/news/Possible-dwarf-planet-celestial-body-with-extreme-orbit-behind-Neptune-found-10397288.html

#Astronomy

"A cousin for Pluto? New dwarf planet candidate found" by @cosmiclog / @alanboyle - A computer search of archives telescope images determined Kuiper Belt Object 2017 OF201 was actually observed many more times since discovery, now with enough info to determine its orbit and a rough size. The size estimate makes it big enough to expect it has a round planetary shape. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/05/22/a-cousin-for-pluto-new-dwarf-planet-candidate-found/ #astronomy #KuiperBelt #space

As one avenue to Planet 9 closes so another one could open, this latest object will help some theories while quash others, such is the beauty of Science.

And do not anthropomorphise Pluto, it's just a minor planet, not a sad puppy being demoted.

https://cosmiclog.com/2025/05/22/a-cousin-for-pluto-new-dwarf-planet-candidate-found/

#KuiperBelt #MinorPlanets #2017OF201 #Planet9 #Astronomy #Space

The Kuiper Belt is a region of the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune.

📸 Space Advances

#space #science #kuiperbelt

After writing a book about a #KuiperBelt object called #Pluto more than 15 years ago, I just had to write about a set of three (or maybe two?) Kuiper Belt objects that have stirred up quite a bit of curiosity. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/03/04/hubble-spots-potential-threesome-on-solar-systems-edge/ #Hubble #Space

Hubble spots potential threesome on solar system’s edge
Three bodies? No problem!

The "three-body problem" has traditionally referred to the devilishly tricky challenge of working out the trajectories of three objects orbiting each other in space. The concept has inspired a sci-fi trilogy about an alien invasion, plus a Netflix serie
https://cosmiclog.com/2025/03/04/hubble-spots-potential-threesome-on-solar-systems-edge/
#CosmicSpace #Altjira #HubbleSpaceTelescope #KuiperBelt #Space

Trans-Neptunian Object Altjira Is Likely a Hierarchical Triple Discovered through Non-Keplerian Motion: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ad864d -> NASA's Hubble Finds #KuiperBelt Duo May Be Trio: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-007 and https://esahubble.org/images/opo2507/ and https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-finds-kuiper-belt-duo-may-be-trio/

@aturff @Spacecom @simonbp Trivia: the rock band Queen released a celebratory music video in advance of the accomplishment of #NASA's #NewHorizons Jan 1, 2019 fly-by of Ultima Thule (later officially named Arrokoth) in the #KuiperBelt, the farthest fly-by of any celestial object so far. Why? The band's guitarist Dr Brian May was one of the astronomers on the New Horizons team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Jm5POCAj8 #astronomy #space #music

"Leaving Pluto in the dust: New Horizons probe gearing up for epic crossing of 'termination shock'" by @Spacecom - NH probe conserving fuel in case another #KBO #KuiperBelt object is found within range for a fly-by. But collecting #science data while crossing the "termination shock" at the end of the solar wind's influence around 2027 or later is currently the next plan for #NASA #NewHorizons. https://www.space.com/space-exploration/new-horizons/leaving-pluto-in-the-dust-new-horizons-probe-gearing-up-for-epic-crossing-of-termination-shock #astronomy #space

The cold chemistry of the icy outer solar system was Mondays YorkUniverse (the @AllanICarswellObservatory radio podcast), #pluto #kuiperbelt and given todays forecast, #Toronto in Feb makes a good step in the #snow direction. We've entered bagbalm (protect) your face #weather... at least our snow is water ice and not carbon dioxide 😆🥶

Our cold,cold nights episode is here: https://sites.libsyn.com/546647

#astronomy #Astrodon #science #weatherwarning #podcast #education #kuiper #dwarfplanet #dwarves

Interesting results: a "kiss-and-capture" origin for the Pluto-Charon system. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01612-0

I'm no dynamicist, but it sounds like the same scenario that probably resulted in the observed structure of Arrokoth. (Except they stuck together.)

#Space #Astronomy #Pluto #Charon #PlanetaryScience #KBO #KuiperBelt #OuterSolarSystem

❛❛ something big – often called #PlanetX – might actually be out there. And a new study by a team from #Princeton University has substantially raised the likelihood that it really exists.

The evidence comes from an apparently non-random distribution in the orientation of the #orbits of smaller outer #SolarSystem bodies known as trans-Neptunian objects or #KuiperBelt objects (KBOs). ❜❜

🔗 https://CosmosMagazine.com/space/astronomy/planet-x-solar-system/ 2024 Dec 06
🔗 https://Wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets_beyond_Neptune#Planet_X … #Planets #Neptune

#Astronomy #SpaceTime

I really enjoyed the recent Nova five-part series Solar System: Worlds. I was delighted that more than one segment touched on specific aspects of some of the worlds that I’ve incorporated into my published (and as-yet-unpublished) stories over the years.

It got me thinking about making a list of the worlds of our solar system that I’ve set stories on or worked in one way or another. I put together the table below.

Table notes:

• SETTING(S) A significant part of the story is set on (or very near) that world.
• STORY EVENT(S) Something relevant to the story pertains to that world.
• MENTIONS The world is mentioned in passing.

Earth is listed only when it plays some role other than a default setting for a story.

https://kickin-the-darkness.com/2024/11/06/story-worlds-of-the-solar-system/

#Ceres #Charon #earth #Jupiter #KuiperBelt #Mars #Mercury #Miranda #Moon #Pluto #Saturn #SF #SolarSystem #space #Titan #Triton #Uranus #Venus