Is the asteroid belt horizontal or like a dome?

[Mshenko]

TL;DR Summary

Hello.. I’m not a physicist. Few simple questions.

I see that most planets rotate around the sun in a horizontal circle, except for Pluto.

My question is about the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. Are they horizontal or like a dome? As in can an object go “above” and “below” them in a totally open space?

Also ... is it known and confirmed what is the Kuiper belt and what’s in it and what’s beyond it? What is the limit of the solar system exactly... (if there is an article about this please share)

Thank you...

 

[MikeeMiracle]

The planets were formed from the same swirling disk of gas and dust that formed the sun. The planets formed out of the remains of the gas and dust after the sun "ignited." The planets are all on a plane with the sun because of this. The asteroid belt is a failed planet (likely due to Jupiter's gravitation tidal forces) so that is also on the horizontal plane. The Kupier belt are likewise composed of the remaining bits of dust that did not form the sun and planets. As far as I am aware they are in a sphere at the outer edges of the solar system.

There are various definitions for the edge of the solar system but I believe the main one is that the edge of the solar system is the distance where objects are no longer gravitationally bound to our sun.

If we face our nearest star, at the end of our kupier belt, our nearest stars kupier belt would start. In other directions it's just empty space until you reach the next stars kupier belt.

 

[Bandersnatch]

@MikeeMiracle the Kuiper Belt is just the innermost part of the more broader category of objects called Trans-Neptunian objects. This bit doesn't extend past roughly 60 AU, and is quite planar (most orbital inclinations are +/- 10 degrees).
The diffuse spherical part at the edge of the system would be the Oort cloud.

@Mshenko I find the Wikipedia articles on the subject of various types of TNOs, including Kuiper belt objects, to be very exhaustive and informative. If you haven't already, take a look there.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Ahh yes I stand corrected, I got confused with the Oort Cloud which is sperical, apologies. So the Oort cloud is the true end of the solar system...or so we currently believe. We used to think it ended at the planets, then we discovered the kupier belt, then the Oort cloud. Who knows what we might discover in future and have to redefine our understanding once more :)

 

[Mshenko]

Ok but I don't understand ... how is it we already know/discovered so many things about the universe, but about our own galaxy we keep discovering new things only recently? Isn't it strange?

So just to be clear:

1. asteroid belt is horizontal
2. kuiper belt and oort cloud are a sphere?

 

[stefan r]

Ok but I don't understand ... how is it we already know/discovered so many things about the universe, but about our own galaxy we keep discovering new things only recently? Isn't it strange?

So just to be clear:

1. asteroid belt is horizontal
2. kuiper belt and oort cloud are a sphere?

Many asteroids are inclined. from wikipedia:

The x-axis is distance from the sun. The inclination is the y axis. If it was spherical there would coloring all the way up to 90. There is definitely stuff above (and therefore also below) 20 or 25 degrees. Compared to Saturn's rings it is very thick.

 

[member 656954]

If you measure the solar system based on the sun's magnetic fields, then the end is the heliosphere.

But more usefully, Space Facts has a nice graphic of the Oort Cloud with a scale. It is large, but a long way away by any means we have to travel there. Space Facts also has a nice graphic for the asteroid belt, though not with a scale, and it highlights that is a disc not a sphere.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

It's not strange to discover local stuff when the starts shine so brightly and local object do not shine at all so they are much harder to see. On a galactic level, we are in a galactic disk so we only have a side on view, if we could view our galaxy from above then discoveries in our own galaxy would be easier.