: a band of small celestial bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune from which many short-period comets are believed to originate compare oort cloud
Examples of Kuiper Belt in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Experts suspect the star sports a ring of dust around its circumference, like the Solar System's icy Kuiper Belt.
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Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
But its lonely location in the outer Kuiper Belt has kept Arrokoth intact, essentially a fossil from the early days of Solar System formation.
—Diane Hope, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023
The New Horizons mission, which launched in 2006, is currently flying through the Kuiper Belt.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
In 2016 astronomers proposed Planet Nine’s existence as a way of explaining a strange sort of clustering observed in several small bodies found in and beyond the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of the solar system containing Pluto and many other objects.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2023
Not all astronomers agree that New Horizons’ remaining Kuiper Belt investigations will be worthwhile, however.
—Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2023
This device has a camera and a spectrograph, and observes a kind of light from distant galaxies, coalescing stars, comets and objects in the Kuiper Belt.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 12 Sep. 2023
The New Horizons mission to Pluto in 2008 was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system.
—Popular Mechanics, 29 May 2023
Previously, comets were understood to originate from the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, which both sit beyond Neptune's orbit, and the distance away from the Sun would help preserve ice on the comets, NASA said.
—Christopher Brito, CBS News, 16 May 2023
Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
But its lonely location in the outer Kuiper Belt has kept Arrokoth intact, essentially a fossil from the early days of Solar System formation.
—Diane Hope, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023
The New Horizons mission, which launched in 2006, is currently flying through the Kuiper Belt.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
In 2016 astronomers proposed Planet Nine’s existence as a way of explaining a strange sort of clustering observed in several small bodies found in and beyond the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of the solar system containing Pluto and many other objects.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2023
Not all astronomers agree that New Horizons’ remaining Kuiper Belt investigations will be worthwhile, however.
—Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2023
This device has a camera and a spectrograph, and observes a kind of light from distant galaxies, coalescing stars, comets and objects in the Kuiper Belt.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 12 Sep. 2023
The New Horizons mission to Pluto in 2008 was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system.
—Popular Mechanics, 29 May 2023
Previously, comets were understood to originate from the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, which both sit beyond Neptune's orbit, and the distance away from the Sun would help preserve ice on the comets, NASA said.
—Christopher Brito, CBS News, 16 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Kuiper Belt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Gerald A. Kuiper †1973 U.S. (Dutch-born) astronomer
First Known Use
1988, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near Kuiper Belt
Cite this Entry
“Kuiper Belt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kuiper%20Belt. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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