Streaming | Meet an Astronomer | The Kuiper Belt with Dr. Larry Wasserman

Meet an Astronomer | The Kuiper Belt with Dr. Larry Wasserman

The Kuiper Belt consists of those objects which orbit the Sun beyond Neptune. It was actually “discovered” with the 1930 discovery of Pluto, but nobody realized what was really out there until a second object was found in 1992. We have now been able to study this part of the Solar System for 28 years and have discovered thousands of these objects. What have we learned about these faint, icy, primitive bodies? And what about the big question regarding Pluto. Is it a planet? For that matter, what is (or what should be) a planet? Lowell Observatory Astronomer Dr. Larry Wasserman helps us answer these questions.