The Kuiper Belt Reading Answers with Explanation

IELTS Reading Passage: The Kuiper Belt

Part One

Located in the region of the Solar System beyond the planets (from 30 AU at Neptune’s orbit to circa 55 AU from the Sun), the Kuiper Belt, or Edgeworth – Kuiper Belt as many scientists prefer to call it, is similar to an asteroid belt though far greater in size, being 20 times as wide and potentially 200 times as massive.

Like asteroid belts, the Kuiper is composed of small celestial bodies, the scattered remnants – the leftover junk if you like – from the formation of the Solar System, but unlike asteroid belts whose objects are largely composed of rock and metal, De Kuiper’s objects consist of what are termed ‘frozen volatiles’: methane, ammonia, and water in ice form, for example. Another significant differentiating factor between the Kuiper and asteroid belts is the presence in the former of at least dwarf planets, the most well-known of which is Pluto, which, until 2006, was actually classed as a planet in its own right.

The belt has also previously been home to other large objects such as Saturn’s moon Phoebe and Neptune’s Triton, which originated in the region before coming under the influence of the gravitational force of their respective planets.

Part Two

Though the existence of a phenomenon like a belt had been hypothesized for some time, its existence wasn’t officially confirmed until 1992; since then, over a thousand Kuiper Belt objects(KBOs) have been officially observed. On the basis of what we know about the region, it is speculated that the actual number of KBOs measuring over 100km in diameter is far in excess of 70,000.

Initially, it was speculated that the Kuiper region was responsible for the appearance of most periodic comets (comets whose orbit lasts less than 200 years), but studies conducted in the mid-90s appear to contradict this assumption and cast the Kuiper region as one which is dynamically stable and, thus, not the repository of periodic comets on now thought to be in the father regions of the Solar System outside of the Kuiper belt in an area referred to as the scattered disc, thought to have been created by the outward motion of Neptune several billion years ago.

Scattered-disc objects are KBO-like bodies with orbits that take them as far as 100 AU from the Sun, far beyond the 50 AU boundary of the Kuiper Belt itself.

Part Three

Pluto is the largest-known

Kuiper Belt object and also the tenth most massive body directly orbiting the Sun. It was reclassified as a Dwarf planet after it was discovered to be more similar compositionally to KBOs than the major planets, being composed of rock and ice. Its orbital period is also identical to that of another group of KBOS, referred to as Plutinos in its honor. Alongside Pluto, a further three dwarf planets have now been observed within the Kuiper Belt, and these are collectively referred to as plutoids: another patent tribute to the former planet.

The Kuiper Belt’s proximity to Neptune has a profound effect on its structure due to the consequent orbital resonance gravitation influence) at work on it. Neptune’s gravity destabilized the orbits of objects lying within certain regions of the Kuiper, doing one of two things: either sending them farther out into the scattered disc region of interstellar space or into the linear Solar System.

For this reason, the Kuiper is characterized by a series of pronounced gaps in the current layout, similar to the gaps present in the asteroid belt on which gravitational forces are also constantly at work.

Part Four

The classical belt is the region of the Kuiper between 42-48 AU. Here the gravitational influence of Neptune is negligible, so KBOs are largely unmolested. This region accounts for about two-thirds of all KBOS observed to date. Within the classical belt are two distinct populations of KBO defined by their differing orbits. The ‘dynamically hot’ population is characterized by more pronounced elliptical orbits.

Not only are the populations at odds in their orbits, but they are also compositionally distinct. The cold population has a red hue not evident in the hot population (the name cold population is not in any way indicative of temperature). It is thought that the hot population therefore formed in a different region near Jupiter before being injected outward by movement among the gas giants, whereas the cold formed roughly where it is still situated, just outside of the orbital range of Neptune.

Questions for Reading Passage: The Kuiper Belt

Question 1-5

The following are a few statements given from the passage above.

You have to check the answers from the passage and write them correctly.

1. It is speculated that the actual number of KBOs measuring over 100km in diameter is far in excess of _________.

2. The classical belt is the region of the Kuiper between ___________.

3. Scattered-disc objects are KBO-like bodies with orbits which take them as far as ____________from the sun.

4. The Kuiper’s proximity to Neptune has a profound effect on its structure due to the consequent ____________.

5. Alongside ___________, a further three dwarf planets have now been observed within the Kuiper Belt

Question 6-9

Look at the statements below and, after reading them, write TRUE or FALSE in front of them.

TRUE – If the statement agrees with the information that is given above in the passage.

FALSE – If the statement disagrees with the information that is given above in the passage.

6. The dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt are collectively termed plutoids.

7. The Kuiper Belt is characterized by a series of pronounced gaps in the current layout, similar to the gaps present in the asteroid belt

8. Thousand Kuiper Belt objects(KBOs) have been officially observed since 1800.

9. The Kuiper Belt is composed of small celestial bodies, the scattered remnants from the formation of the Solar System