| 释义 |
Kuiper belt, n. Astron.
Brit. |ˈkʌɪpə ˌbɛlt|, U.S. |ˈkaɪpər ˌbɛlt|
[‹ the name of Gerard P. Kuiper (1905–73), Dutch-born U.S. astronomer, who suggested such a belt as the source of short-period comets (G. P. Kuiper in J. A. Hynek Astrophysics (1951) viii. 357) + belt n.1]
A region of the solar system located beyond the orbit of Neptune, between about 30 and 50 astronomical units from the sun, and containing bodies resembling asteroids or small planets, including Pluto.
It is possible that the belt feeds short-period comets into the inner solar system.
1988Science 18 Mar. 1372 There are some hurdles yet for the ‘Kuiper belt’. One is finding a means of bringing comets from the belt into Neptune-crossing orbits, which is where they were at the beginning of the simulation. 1994Equinox Jan.–Feb. 10/3 Serious searches for the Kuiper belt..did not begin until 1988, when astrophysicists..published the first detailed theoretical reasons why the Kuiper belt must be out there. 2001Times 29 Jan. i. 9/6 Pluto does not have a family except for the icy bodies in the outer solar system. So we simply group it with the Kuiper belt. 2006Daily Tel. 17 Aug. 24/2 The accession-mad IAU has declared that even more distant objects in an obscure outer region known as the Kuiper Belt are on its watch list.
Compounds. Kuiper belt object n. an object orbiting the sun in the Kuiper belt; (also) one believed to have originated in the belt, even though its present orbit is outside it; abbreviated KBO; cf. Plutino n.
1992Newsday 15 Sept. 17/3 We have the first detection of a *Kuiper belt object. 1996Sci. Amer. May 37/1 Each of the Kuiper belt objects is millions of times fainter than can be seen with the naked eye. 2006New Yorker 24 July 50/1 The case for ten planets accepts Pluto and considers the largest Kuiper Belt object..as the tenth planet, since it is larger than Pluto. |