English

Alternative forms

• Kuiperoid

Noun

kuiperoid ‎(plural kuiperoids)

1. (astronomy) A Kuiper belt object, such as Pluto
   • 1994 December, Clyde Tombaugh, “The Last Word”, in Sky & Telescope, page 8:

     I'm fascinated by the relatively small "ice balls" in the very outer part of the solar system. I have often wondered what bodies lay out there fainter than 17th magnitude, the limit of the plates I took at Lowell Observatory. May I suggest we call this new class of objects "Kuiperoids"?

   • 1995, Terence Dickinson, Other worlds: a beginner's guide to planets and moons:

     As of mid-1995, more than 20 objects, dubbed Kuiperoids, had been discovered within the Kuiper belt. The first one (other than Pluto) was spotted in 1992.

   • 2000 June 29, Gorkavyi, Ozernoy, Taidakova, & Mather, “Distribution of dust from Kuiper belt objects”, in arXiv.org, page arXiv:astro-ph/0006435v1:

     Complementary mechanisms of dust release from kuiperoids and Centaurs between Jupiter and Neptune can include impacts of large grains and the solar wind. Without discussing here the dust production by the above mechanisms ... we simply refer to observational data that indicate, for a number of kuiperoids and Centaurs, a steady cometary activity lasting for years

   • 2012, Robert Tuttle, The Fourth Source, page 178:

     We would not begin to guess how many more objects like Pluto (and Charon) could exist in the outskirts of our Solar System until the discovery of the first kuiperoid (1992 QB1) by David Jewitt and Jane Luu

Usage notes

(astronomy) "Kuiperoid" is relatively uncommon. These objects are normally called Kuiper belt objects, commonly shortened to the acronym KBOs, or occasionally (and increasingly infrequently) asteroids.

Synonyms

• Kuiper belt object
• KBO

Derived terms

• kuiperoidal

Related terms

• asteroid