Beyond Pluto Exploring the Outer Limits of the Solar System [Hardcover]

An engaging story of modern scientific discovery: exploring the frozen frontier of our solar system.The solar system has more than doubled in size since 1992. For the first time in almost two centuries an entirely new population of planetary objects has been found. This 'Kuiper Belt' of minor planets beyond Neptune has revolutionised our understanding of how the solar system formed and finally explained the origin of the enigmatic outer planet Pluto. This is the story of how theoretical physicists decided that there must be a population of unknown bodies beyond Pluto and how a small band of astronomers set out to find them.The solar system has more than doubled in size since 1992. For the first time in almost two centuries an entirely new population of planetary objects has been found. This 'Kuiper Belt' of minor planets beyond Neptune has revolutionised our understanding of how the solar system formed and finally explained the origin of the enigmatic outer planet Pluto. This is the story of how theoretical physicists decided that there must be a population of unknown bodies beyond Pluto and how a small band of astronomers set out to find them.Exactly what is beyond Pluto? Why, in the last ten years, has the Solar System more than doubled in size? For the first time, in almost two centuries, an entirely new population of planetary objects has been found that may well explain these two questions. This newly discovered realm of minor planets, now known as the Kuiper Belt, has reconceptualized our understanding of how the Solar System was formed and has finally given ontological explanations for the enigmatic outer planet Pluto. Beyond Pluto is the fascinating story of how a group of theoretical physicists decided that there must be a population of unknown bodies beyond Pluto and how a small band of astronomers set out to find them. Acclaimed scientist John K. Davies recounts how they predicted the existence of these planetary bodies, how they were eventually disclãt