The edge of our solar system ends with a sudden, empty cliff
Beyond the orbit of Neptune, the crowded highway of icy rocks in our solar system suddenly turns into a desolate, empty wasteland.
The Kuiper Belt is a massive ring of frozen objects, including Pluto, that circles our sun. Astronomers expected this belt to gradually thin out as it moved further into deep space, but instead, they found the 'Kuiper Cliff.' At exactly 50 astronomical units from the sun—about 4.6 billion miles—the population of icy rocks plummets by 90 percent, leaving a hauntingly empty void where a vibrant junkyard should be.
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