Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever

[thefinalfrontier]

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the smallest object ever seen in visible light in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of the solar system just beyond Neptune.

The needle-in-a-haystack object found by Hubble is only 3,200 feet across and a whopping 4.2 billion miles away. The smallest Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) seen previously in reflected light is roughly 30 miles across, or 50 times larger.

This is the first observational evidence for a population of comet-sized bodies in the Kuiper Belt that are being ground down through collisions.

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Now how cool is that? What a great telescope Hubble is,

[Hazzard]

Now how cool is that? What a great telescope Hubble is,

Hubble is my baby...

Cant wait to (the next generation space-scope) be a Grandaddy.

[thefinalfrontier]

Hubble is my baby...

Cant wait to (the next generation space-scope) be a Grandaddy.

Agree there Hazz. The James Webb space telescope is due to replace hubble real soon, That one will be the best ever,

[+susieice]

That's awesome. Wonder what the new one will find already. Can't wait