The discovery of 1992 QB1 marked a significant achievement in the field of Kuiper Belt Exploration, even with the challenges associated with detecting cosmic bodies beyond Pluto with the technology that existed at the time.
The Discovery of 1992 QB1 turns 33 Years Today! (Photo: Sci.News)
Discovery of 1992 QB1
According to Solar System Exploration, the cosmic body 1992 QB1 was first discovered by Dave Jewitt and Jane Luu, astronomers who did not believe that the outer solar system was empty.
The Kuiper Belt exploration reached a milestone when 1992 QB1 was discovered after five years of searching Neptune using the 2.2 m telescope at the University of Hawaii.
1992 QB1 appears to be a reddish-colored speech 44 AU from the Sun beyond Pluto. The two astronomers who found 1992 QB1 wanted to name their discovery “Smiley.”
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The Discovery of 1992 QB1 turns 33 Years Today!
SPACE reports that the 1992 QB1 was discovered 33 Years ago today!
1992 QB1 was the first ever cosmic body discovered beyond Pluto. Before 1992 QB1 was founded, Pluto was believed to be the most distant planet in the solar system, and no one had seen anything farther than the Kuiper Belt.
Thankfully, digital imaging techniques could spot a new and tiny world orbiting 4 billion miles beyond Neptune and Pluto. Astronomers confirmed that two thousand objects are orbiting beyond the two planets and are now known as the Kuiper Belt.
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