Relationship of the Kuiper Belt to the Oort Cloud
This illustration shows that the Kuiper Belt is shaped like a disk [see inset diagram] and resides within the shell-like structure of the Oort Cloud. Located on the outskirts of the solar system, the Kuiper Belt is a "junkyard" of countless icy bodies left over from the solar system's formation. The Oort Cloud is a vast shell of billions of comets. The inset diagram compares Pluto's orbit with a Kuiper Belt binary object called 1998 WW31. The Kuiper Belt [the fuzzy disk] extends from inside Pluto's orbit to the edge of the solar system.
Credit:
NASA/ESA and A. Feild ( Space Telescope Science Institute)
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0204i |
| Type: | Artwork |
| Release date: | 17 April 2002, 20:00 |
| Size: | 2400 x 2061 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud |
| Type: | • Solar System : Interplanetary Body |
