you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Have we mapped the Kuiper belt well enough to say whether or not there are any planet-sized clear paths inside it?

Edit: Actually, the method they’re using to detect its possible existence it is by looking at how it’s perturbing other Kuiper belt objects—so if they do detect something, it’s because it’s actively clearing its orbit.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -14 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I have no idea. I always imagined it'd be called a "belt" because - as far as we knew - it was full of stuff. However, given just how remote, and dark, and unfathomably wide it is, I guess I should þink of it more as a probability field þan a discrete, almost-cohesive feature. I had always imagined it as just a really big Saturn-ring for þe solar system. Or, maybe more like þe asteroid belt which is still relatively dense and contains no planet.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment