New Horizons spacecraft made new and stunning observations which suggest that the Kuiper Belt might stretch much farther out than scientists previously thought.&nbsp;

The Kuiper Belt is the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky planetary building blocks.&nbsp;

New Horizons by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was the first spacecraft to explore Pluto up close, flying by the dwarf planet and its moons on July 14, 2015.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/explained-where-is-point-nemo-on-earth-the-graveyard-for-satellites-and-spaceships-692298">Explained: Point Nemo on Earth, the graveyard for satellites and spaceships</a>&nbsp;

It made stunning observations when in 2019 it flew past its second major science target, Arrokoth (2014 MU69), which is the most distant object ever explored up close.&nbsp;

The New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC) instrument sped through the outer edges of the Kuiper Belt, almost 60 times farther from the Sun than Earth.&nbsp;

A report by NASA mentioned that the instrument is detecting higher-than-expected levels of particles where dust ought to be thinning out.&nbsp;

The results were published in the February 1 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/enormously-hungry-black-hole-that-eats-370-suns-a-year-discovered-by-scientists-691853">Enormously 'hungry' black hole that eats 370 Suns a year is likely the brightest object in universe</a>&nbsp;

The readings defy scientific models that the Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) population and density of dust should start to decline a billion miles inside that distance.&nbsp;

It suggests that the outer edge of the main Kuiper Belt could extend billions of miles farther than current estimation.&nbsp;

As quoted by Nasa.gov, Alex Doner, the lead author of the paper and a physics graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder who serves as SDC lead, said: "New Horizons is making the first direct measurements of interplanetary dust far beyond Neptune and Pluto, so every observation could lead to a discovery." &nbsp;

"The idea that we might have detected an extended Kuiper Belt — with a whole new population of objects colliding and producing more dust – offers another clue in solving the mysteries of the solar system's most distant regions," he added.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

New Horizons spacecraft made new and stunning observations which suggest that the Kuiper Belt might stretch much farther out than scientists previously thought. The Kuiper Belt is the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky planetary building blocks.

New Horizons spacecraft made new and stunning observations which suggest that the Kuiper Belt might stretch much farther out than scientists previously thought. The Kuiper Belt is the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky planetary building blocks. New Horizons by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was the first spacecraft to explore Pluto up close, flying by the dwarf planet and its moons on July 14, 2015. Also read: Explained: Point Nemo on Earth, the graveyard for satellites and spaceships It made stunning observations when in 2019 it flew past its second major science target, Arrokoth (2014 MU69), which is the most distant object ever explored up close. The New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC) instrument sped through the outer edges of the Kuiper Belt, almost 60 times farther from the Sun than Earth. A report by NASA mentioned that the instrument is detecting higher-than-expected levels of particles where dust ought to be thinning out. The results were published in the February 1 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Also read: Enormously 'hungry' black hole that eats 370 Suns a year is likely the brightest object in universe The readings defy scientific models that the Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) population and density of dust should start to decline a billion miles inside that distance. It suggests that the outer edge of the main Kuiper Belt could extend billions of miles farther than current estimation. As quoted by Nasa.gov, Alex Doner, the lead author of the paper and a physics graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder who serves as SDC lead, said: "New Horizons is making the first direct measurements of interplanetary dust far beyond Neptune and Pluto, so every observation could lead to a discovery." "The idea that we might have detected an extended Kuiper Belt — with a whole new population of objects colliding and producing more dust – offers another clue in solving the mysteries of the solar system's most distant regions," he added. (With inputs from agencies)

New Horizons observations suggest solar system might stretch farther out than we thought

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New Horizons observations suggest solar system might stretch farther out than we thought