What is Kuiper belt?
[[File:Kuiper_belt_-_Oort_cloud-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Artist's rendering of the Kuiper Belt and hypothetical more distant Oort cloud]] The '''Kuiper belt''' is an area of the [[Solar System]] beyond the [[orbit]] of [[Neptune (planet)|Neptune]] (at 30 [[astronomical unit]]s) to 50 AU from the [[Sun]]. The objects within the Kuiper Belt together with the members of the ''[[scattered disk]]'' beyond, are together called [[trans-Neptunian object|trans-Neptunian]]. Many objects such as [[dwarf planet]]s in the Kuiper belt are much bigger than the ones in the [[asteroid belt]] and are round. At least some Kuiper belt objects are icebound. The first objects in the Kuiper belt to be found were [[Pluto]] and [[Charon (moon)]] but the belt was only identified and named in 1992 when more '''Kuiper belt objects''' ('''KBOs''') were found. A few thousand have since been discovered and more than 70,000 KBOs over 100 km (62 mi) in diameter are thought to exist. {{sci-stub}} {{Solar System}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Solar System]] [[Category:Minor planets]]