Context:
Recently, scientists proposed a model to explain Arrokoth’s ice core.
Relevance:
Facts for Prelims
About Arrokoth
Location and Name
- Arrokoth is located in the Kuiper Belt, the outer region of the solar system beyond Neptune.
- Its name originates from the Powhatan tribe’s language, meaning “sky.”
Discovery and Exploration
- Discovered in 2014 using the Hubble Space Telescope.
- It holds the distinction of being the farthest object in space explored by a human spacecraft.
Physical Characteristics
- Arrokoth has a unique double-lobed shape, resembling a snowman.
- It is believed to contain ancient “gaseous ice” from its formation billions of years ago.
Key Facts about Kuiper Belt
Name and Origin
- Also known as the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, named after Gerard Kuiper, a Dutch-American astronomer who proposed its existence in the 1950s.
Size and Population
- The Kuiper Belt contains millions of icy objects, collectively known as Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) or trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs).
Composition
- Primarily consists of small icy bodies, including dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets, orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune’s orbit.
-Source: The Hindu
