The many colors of the Kuiper Belt
Friday, October 29, 2010 - 08:30
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- The sun isn't kind to objects without atmospheres. Bombarded by solar radiation, the surfaces of some comets, for example, tend to be a charred carbon-black. But the 1,000 objects so far directly imaged in the Kuiper Belt that swath of icy bodies circling around the sun with Pluto appear to be a wide range of colors: red, blue, and white.