<P> The Kuiper belt was named after Dutch - American astronomer Gerard Kuiper , though he did not predict its existence . In 1992 , Albion was discovered , the first Kuiper belt object ( KBO ) since Pluto and Charon . Since its discovery , the number of known KBOs has increased to over a thousand , and more than 100,000 KBOs over 100 km ( 62 mi ) in diameter are thought to exist . The Kuiper belt was initially thought to be the main repository for periodic comets , those with orbits lasting less than 200 years . Studies since the mid-1990s have shown that the belt is dynamically stable and that comets ' true place of origin is the scattered disc , a dynamically active zone created by the outward motion of Neptune 4.5 billion years ago ; scattered disc objects such as Eris have extremely eccentric orbits that take them as far as 100 AU from the Sun . </P>
<P> The Kuiper belt was named after Dutch - American astronomer Gerard Kuiper , though he did not predict its existence . In 1992 , Albion was discovered , the first Kuiper belt object ( KBO ) since Pluto and Charon . Since its discovery , the number of known KBOs has increased to over a thousand , and more than 100,000 KBOs over 100 km ( 62 mi ) in diameter are thought to exist . The Kuiper belt was initially thought to be the main repository for periodic comets , those with orbits lasting less than 200 years . Studies since the mid-1990s have shown that the belt is dynamically stable and that comets ' true place of origin is the scattered disc , a dynamically active zone created by the outward motion of Neptune 4.5 billion years ago ; scattered disc objects such as Eris have extremely eccentric orbits that take them as far as 100 AU from the Sun . </P>
kupier belt objects ( kbos ) are comets found
kupier belt objects ( kbos ) are comets found
The Kuiper belt
The Kuiper belt