Question

What is the relationship between the Kuiper Belt and the status of Pluto today?

Answer 1

Pluto is a dwarf planet, but one of the largest known members, in the Kuiper belt.

The Kuiper Belt extends between 30 AU and 55 AU from the Sun

(1 AU = 1.5 × 10^8 km = distance from Earth to Sun).

Pluto's orbit is highly elliptical. It ranges from 30 AU to 50 AU. When Pluto is closest to the Sun, it is inside the orbit of Neptune (30 AU).

Astronomers class Pluto as a resonant Kuiper belt object (KBO). Because it gets so close to Neptune, its orbit is in resonance with that of Neptune. Pluto makes two orbits for every three of Neptune.