As the sun is the center of our solar system, is you were to go in one direction from the sun outwards, you would eventually reach Pluto and the Kuiper asteroid belt. I want to know what is in the other direction. Also what is past the Kuiper belt. Thank you!
2006-06-22 09:46:18 · 12 answers · asked by jrll173 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
what is on the other side of the sun changes, as we and the other planets revolve around it, what "the other side" is, is a in a constant change...thats like asking what is on the other side of the world constantly as you are flying around it...
beyond the Kuiper belt is what we call the Oort Cloud, where the Kuiper belt is in theory a significantly larger version of the asteroid belt, the Oort cloud is more spherical in nature completely encompassing the sun, solar system and Kuiper belt... beyond that deep space, other star systems, galaxies and the milky way...
please see the following diagrams...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kuiper_oort.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oort_cloud_Sedna_orbit.jpg
2006-06-22 10:01:51 · answer #1 · answered by Thomas P 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you understand that the planets all revolve around the sun, then you'll see that the other side of the sun is the same. As you head out past Pluto and the Kuiper belt you will reach the Oort cloud which is where we think comets that pass within the solar system may originate. Once you go beyond the Oort cloud, you are pretty much in interstellar space. The existence of the Oort cloud is based on indirect evidence from what I've read, however.
2006-06-22 16:58:32 · answer #2 · answered by ebk1974 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just past the Kuiper Belt/Oort Cloud is empty space, depending on the direction you take, you wouldnt reach Alpha Centari for 4 light years, So traveling at 300,000 m/s you take about 4 years to get there. But since anything we have doesnt come near that speed, it's not going to be in our lifetime when someone gets there. The other side of the sun can be seen everytime the sun rotates. It spins just like every other planet does, it's been a while since astronomy 101, but I think it was about every two weeks? Maybe a bit slower, but it's not just spinning the same speed we revolve around it, you can almost always wait a few weeks to get to the view of the other side. The funny thing is that the sun does not rotate all at the same speed. So the sun spots will actually move away from eachother.
2006-06-22 18:09:02 · answer #3 · answered by Brian L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
past the Kuiper Belt is a cloud of gas and dust called the Oort Cloud. This is around .5 light-years away from the Sun (compare to Pluto being 5.5 light-hours away). The Oort Cloud is still within the gravitational pull of Sun, and this is where comets (of which Halley's is most recognized) comes from.
Past the Oort Cloud lies what is known as the "edge of the solar system." This is where the sun's gravitational pull is so weak that interstellar particles at this border receive a greater gravitational attraction from other extrasolar objects (ie. other stars, blackholes, galaxies, etc) than from the sun. Voyager 1 past this boundary in 1998 and Voyager 2 past it May 2006. It is much farther away and is considered the true "edge of the solar system."
2006-06-22 18:23:20 · answer #4 · answered by Tarvold 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Think radially. The sun is in the center of the solar system. You go ourward from it in all directions.
Our planets, etc, are all in roughly the same plane. If you are speaking in three dimension, ie perpendicular to the planetary axis, then there is very little. I am unsure if the Kuiper belt is actually a belt of a sphere. I will yield to any experts in the field for clarification.
2006-06-22 16:54:57 · answer #5 · answered by scott_d_webb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK...
What is on the other side of the sun? you'll find out in six months when we're there. The Earth revolves around the Sun 1 a year. (that's actually what a year is) We'll see the other side of the sun next year.
Past the Kuiper belt is what we call the "galactic void". It is mostly dusty space.
2006-06-22 16:53:50 · answer #6 · answered by boter_99 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Kuiper belt extends all the way around the solar system.
Beyond it is though to exist the Oort cloud, which is a spherical cloud of debris encasing the solar system.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/oort.htm
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_cloud
2006-06-23 04:02:56 · answer #7 · answered by minuteblue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm just going on a wild tangent here, but i am going to guess the OTHER side of the Kuiper belt????
2006-06-22 16:50:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
past the kupier belt is the oort cloud. Past that is outside
of the solar system. In between theres also the scattered disk.
The oort cloud may have several layers. We don't really know
yet about that.
2006-06-22 18:13:40 · answer #9 · answered by kucitizenx 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gor...ha ha, couldn't resist referencing the pulpy John Norman Sci-fi series....
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809556154/sr=8-9/qid=1151010213/ref=pd_bbs_9/002-5374651-8316045?%5Fencoding=UTF8
2006-06-22 17:12:33 · answer #10 · answered by Andrew H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋