Kuiper belt object

n. Abbr. KBO

Any of the small icy bodies orbiting the sun in the Kuiper belt, generally having a diameter less than Pluto's. Pluto is a large Kuiper belt object that was probably captured in its present solar orbit by an encounter with the planet Neptune.

[After Gerard Kuiper (1905-1973), Dutch-born American astronomer who speculated about the existence of such bodies.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Kuiper belt object - any of many minor planets in the Kuiper belt outside the orbit of Neptune at the edge of the solar system

KBO

minor planet, planetoid - any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun

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References in periodicals archive

Meanwhile, New Horizons will also be exploring 30 other Kuiper Belt objects from much greater distances through 2021.

Next New Horizons Target Has a Moon

A third group maintained that Pluto should lose its planetary status and be demoted to the rank of Kuiper Belt object.

Xena's warriors face a stellar task to win her recognition as a planet

One problem: The spacecraft was headed toward a region of sky packed with stars, and this made a dim Kuiper Belt object much harder to discover.

Chasing the elusive 2014 [MU.sub.69]: New Horizons' next target was hard to find and remains a bear to pin down, but persistence has paid off

An extension of the $720 million mission, not yet approved, could have New Horizons flying past another much smaller Kuiper Belt object, before departing the solar system.

Little Pluto bigger than scientists thought as flyby looms

DURING JUNE AND JULY, two dozen teams of observers in South America and South Africa learned crucial new details about distant 2014 [MU.sub.69], the Kuiper Belt object that New Horizons will fly past on January 1, 2019.

Observers track new horizons' next target

The find further supports the growing belief that Pluto itself is a Kuiper belt object. If true, Pluto can no longer be considered a true planet.

QUAOAR: Discovery of a new heavenly body

Astronomers led by David Gerdes (University of Michigan) have discovered a Kuiper Belt object, designated 2014 [UZ.sub.224], that's currently 91.6 a.u.

Big, far-out Kuiper Belt object

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly into the Kuiper Belt after its 2015 flyby of Pluto, now recognized as a Kuiper Belt Object instead of a planet.

Comet belt predicted near farthest planet