Newswise — In 1992, our solar system became a much larger and more interesting place. That’s when astronomers David Jewitt and Jane Luu discovered the first of many dozens of objects at the frigid and dark edge of the solar system – celestial bodies that collectively would be known as the Kuiper Belt and provide clues into how the solar system formed and evolved. Later, astronomer Michael Brown made startling discoveries of increasingly larger Kuiper Belt Objects. In turn,this forced scientists to rethink Pluto and trim the solar system to only eight planets.
For their groundbreaking work, Jewitt, Luu and Brown were awarded the 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics. Now before receiving their prizes in Oslo, Norway, Drs. Brown and Jewitt discuss the discoveries of the Kuiper Belt and its larger bodies. "It’s exciting to think about large objects out there that are so far away that they have basically been unaltered for billions of years," said Brown. "And that means they're basically fossil records of a period when the sun was born."
Said Jewitt, "The outer solar system represented an area of astronomy in which relatively few other people worked. And I’ve always believed that you should work on subjects that are very undeveloped, and where we don't even know the important questions. ...The discovery of the Kuiper Belt was really a classic example of doing research in a crack between established fields."
For the complete discussion, visit: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/kavli-prize-2012-brown-jewitt
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