Explore the Solar System: Kuiper-Belt & Oort Cloud - Essay Sample

Introduction

Kuiper-belt is an area or region beyond the planet Neptune, which is about 30 astronomical units. This Kuiper-belt region, however, ends at approximately 50 million astronomical units. Beyond this region, there is a region known as the Oort cloud. An astronomical unit (AU) is a distance unit of measurement that astronauts use to measure vast distances. One astronomical unit is equivalent to the distance between the earth and the sun. The region is considered a part of the solar system. The trans-Neptunian objects are critical as there is a belief that they are older or more primitive than the known planets, and information from them could end up giving more information and leading humans to better understand the origin of the planets.

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Officially, there are three already confirmed relatively smaller planets in the Kuiper-belt region. The three confirmed Kuiper-belt objects include the Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake. Neptune's moons, that is, Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, are also thought to be from this region because of their characteristics (Malhotra, 2019). Others have also been discovered more recently, but full, their full details are not yet all. The information gathered, for example, from one, in particular, the Arrokoth, or the 2014MU69, or the Ultima Thule according to the new horizon's team, that a spacecraft flew by in January 2019, is said to be still in the process of being downloaded yet. The full information is projected to be in by approximately late 2020. This is because of the amount of distance that is between the spacecraft sending the data and earth, where it is received. This data from the spacecraft and the instructions to the spacecraft are all transmitted through a deep space network.

For very long, there were a lot of debates on the status of Pluto. Pluto was first recognized as one of the nine planets in the solar system. It was, however, reclassified by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the year 2006 to dwarf planets. This triggered a lot of heated debates among scientists. The IAU, however, made the decision based on the new information they believed to be accurate. They thought that Pluto was part of a cloud of debris that was surrounding, as it had not "cleared its surrounding," which is a requirement for a terrestrial body to be considered a planet. Other scientists who were opposed to the move at that time, however, argued that Pluto was relatively large and had certain characteristics that most of the known Kuiper-belt objects do not have. This argument and to a certain descent among the critical group would be easier solved by more clarity in the definitions of the word planet and also by further and closer studying Pluto and the other Kuiper-belt objects. When the USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched its spacecraft known as the New Horizons, it would pass by the Pluto towards other Kuiper-belt objects to provide more information and thereby lead to more clarity on the subject.

As New Horizons moved close to Pluto, it is reported to have encountered some problems as there was a lot of debris on the surrounding. The spacecraft had to find another route of passing by Pluto to avoid this debris. On July 14, 2015, it passed by Pluto, after having taken relatively more precise information and even pictures of Pluto and even Charon. The information received corrected some wrong earlier beliefs about Pluto. It was discovered that it was, in fact, more complicated than it was earlier believed to be. Its size was larger than earlier perceived, lower atmospheric haze, and also had the largest glacier known to man so far in the solar system that is believed to be floating on nitrogen ice. The images also did show certain reddish substances on Charon, but they are believed to have been from Pluto's surfaces. It's moons also did orbit it faster than anything within the solar system. The data made did result in more understanding of Pluto and possibly changing the opinion of some of the scientists who were critical of the earlier decision to categorize Pluto under the dwarf planet, but also very effectively introduced further questions that would need the scientists to do even more research to explain.

The reddish coloring on Pluto is formed when nitrogen and oxygen are opposed to the rays of the sun, making them react and then later combine again, but forming a new complex compound in the atmosphere. There were also smooth surfaces and on Pluto's moon, Cheron. This is a piece of significant evidence that there are some internal activities going on there. Given how far from the earth, there needs to be a scientific reason explaining how it is possible that they kept warm for so long and so far from the source of heat, sun if the original narrative preached around is true. The other arising matter would be the need to change the narrative that has long been there and told that the Kuiper-belt objects are dormant bodies that could be traced back to the earlier stages of the formation of the solar system since it might be true that they are primitive. However, there is evidence that they are still active is out.

One very unique asteroid was also discovered in the Kuiper-belt. Unlike most of the asteroids in that region of space, it was found to be very rich in carbon. It is, however, believed that it does not occur in that region naturally. The asteroid had been named Kuiper Belt object 2004 EW95. There is a theory that one of the space crafts launched from the earth might have forcefully moved it there the influence of the gases they tend to emit while moving. The high carbons on its surface make it appear darker than any other object in that region. At this time, the claim that it was pushed to that region by our asteroids is still being treated as a theory at this point in time as there has not been any substantial proof to back that claim. If the claim is not true, then that opens a whole field to be studied because it could hold the key to learning a new aspect about the Kuiper Belt region that has not been appreciated yet or one that has been misperceived for a long time. It is, however, difficult to identify them using their sizes as they come in very varied sizes. Being that they can change their form with ease, it is very difficult to understand their characteristics and definitively identify one as a member of that family when it is discovered. More concentration should be put in their study as they could help us further understand certain trans Neptunian objects and the origin of the solar system in the end.

The other Kuiper-object recently discovered is the Arrokoth. It was first discovered on June 26, 2014. This informed the decision to retask the New Horizons after the Pluto flyby, as from their calculations, it was their most feasible fly by destination according to the amount of fuel that was still in the spacecraft (Kovalenko et al. 2017). There was further research done and calculations in order to find dates and points that it could be observed from the earth since they understood that such occultation events would only be possible at very particular vantage points. Three specific dates in early June and mid-July were chosen and South Africa, Argentina, and one other country for scientists to try and trace it. It was, however, not successful and therefore were two other occultation after that that also did yield to nothing after the first occultation. When the fourth occultation that was in August 2018 in Senegal was done, however, a member of the research that was based at Senegal is said to have seen it. That observation is said to have provided astronomers very important preliminary information on what they expected in a few years from the spacecraft. The fact that it was able to be seen from the earth also gave some preliminary size information and distance from the earth.

Few weeks after being seen from the earth's surface, the spacecraft first detected Arrokoth from afar off. There were no obstacles met by the spacecraft on this journey as the spacecraft closed down to it. On January 1, 2019, the new horizon made its closest approach to it. The main objectives or interests of the scientists on the closest approach include information on the rock structures, occurrence, chemical compositions, and even measurement of gravity (Morbidelli & Nesvorny, 2020). These are geared towards further understanding the Kuiper-belt objects, and by extension, the whole solar system. It is a general belief that more information on such would possibly further allow for the understanding of the origin of the earth. The data that was sent would however to be fully be downloaded after approximately twenty months. This was due to the slow capability of the spacecraft to send large packets of data at a time from such a distant place.

Arrokoth is believed to be approximately forty-four astronomical units from the sun. It is described as made up of majorly two lobes, one big and one small, that are connected to make a bottleneck structure at the point they combine. The earlier pictures relay it as red, just as it was expected to be. There is, however, some complication or twist to that as one, the smaller one is pictured as having a redder color than the bigger lobe. In the study of the solar system, the red color is associated with tholins (Singer et al. 2019). This has been like that with Kuiper-belt objects such as pluto, although it has not been determined for sure with the Arrokoth. Such a description would fit the already available information, if true.

Arrokoth is estimated, according to the data already obtained, to be thirty kilometers by 20 kilometers by 10 kilometers when the two lobes are connected to form one (Stern, 2019). It has a very smooth surface with no destructive signs on its surface. That is an indication that it has richly preserved its formation. It only has one major crater on it. There have not been any objects around it or moon surrounding it that have been observed so far, although it was earlier anticipated to have. The reason for the different colors observed between the two globes is also not clear even to the scientists yet. Physically, the two lobes have relatively differently shaped. The larger lobe is seen as flatter than the smaller lobe. A series of troughs that have been earlier observed in some other asteroids have also been observed in the region that is close to the neck on the smaller lobe side. This is believed that could be particles from the possible impact collision that may have caused the crater that is found in the smaller lobe part of Arrokoth. The object is also believed to be having an equator like axis located close to the area of the tiny neck where it rotates about.

There is a theoretical analogy or theory already suggested trying to explain Arrakoth's origin. The theory starts by suggesting that the solar system first occurred as the nebular swirl of dust and gas (Xu et al. 2017). It then suggests that there is a possibility of the object earlier on occurring as two separate objects after the particles coming together with time to form the respective lobes. It then happened that during this process, there were certain unique cases like the Arrokoth's when two of the forming masses were close and very slowly started uniting as early as four billion years ago (Christodoulou & Kazanas, 2019). It, however, ended being the necks only that joined, and then they just continued whirling around their axis.

As much as this system suggests the origin of the complex chemicals that are found in this object and others, too, as having been present at the beginning of this process, it does not well explain some of the occurrences that are observed in the object. It does not...