Dwarf Planets and Pluto / Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud

1. Dwarf Planets and Pluto
Kuiper Belt / Oort Cloud

2. Demoted…What’s going on?

3. Pluto
 It is a Solid object made of rock and ice.
 It is not made of gas – solid terrestrial
 Considered a DWARF (minor) Planet
 Part of the Kuiper Belt (Region that extends past
Neptune engulfed by the Oort Cloud.
1. In orbit of the Sun
2. Sufficient mass to have gravitationally
rounded itself
3. "cleared and ordered" its orbit.
NOPE: Kuiper Belt still Rocky/Icy Mess!

4. Pluto
 It takes 248 Earth years to revolve once around the
sun.
 It has the most elliptical orbit.
 Takes longest to revolve.
 Crosses Neptune’s orbit.

5. Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud
 Region beyond Neptune where small, icy, slow-
moving objects orbit the sun.
 Most Comets originate from this region! (Halley’s)

6. • The Kuiper Belt
contains the
remnants of
planets that never
formed, and small
planetoid objects.
• Pluto is a part of
the Kuiper Belt.
• The Kuiper Belt exists out past the planet
Neptune.

7. • The Oort Cloud exists
nearly 1,000,000AU
from Earth.
• 93 Trillion miles away
from Earth.
• The Oort Cloud contains Trillions of icy Comets.
• Comets get moved from the cloud by a gravitational
flick from another object.