Kuiper belt

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/kuiper-belt

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the composition?Primarily composed of frozen volatiles (ices) such as methane, ammonia, and water
2. What is the estimated number of kbos > 100 km?Over 100,000
3. Why are the objects in the Kuiper Belt so cold?Because they are far from the Sun, the temperatures are very low, so water, methane, and ammonia stay frozen as ices.
4. Which famous dwarf planets live in the Kuiper Belt?Pluto is the biggest, and other dwarf planets there are Haumea, Makemake, Orcus, and Quaoar.

Circumstellar Disc: A torus-shaped region of dust and icy bodies orbiting a star.
Volatiles: Substances that easily turn into gas at low temperatures, like water, methane, and ammonia.
Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO): Any object in the solar system whose orbit lies entirely beyond that of Neptune.