When the object designated 1992 qb1 was discovered, news reports suggested that there were now ten known planets in our solar system. in fact, the object is too small to qualify as a planet; still, its discovery has generated real excitement among astronomers. it confirms the existence of an entire class of objects orbiting the sun, in addition to the planets, asteroids, and comets.
astronomers had already suspected that several known objects in the region of the outer planets belonged to a special class of astronomical objects, small bodies composed of rock and ice. these "ice dwarfs" were thought to originate in the kuiper belt, which lies beyond the orbits of the planets 1992 qb1, currently located between the kuiper belt and the outer planets and apparently moving inward toward the sun, is the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate in the kuiper belt. it provides a stepping stone in theory, like the transition from always seeing a species of animal in captivity—from which one can hypothesize that such animals exist in the wild—to actually finding them in their natural habitat. ice dwarfs are not, however, mere oddities to add to the astronomical menagerie. objects like them were undoubtedly the building blocks of the giant planets.'
according to the passage, the discovery of 1992 qb1 provided astronomers with information about which of the following?

a) how ice dwarfs are formed
b) the place where ice dwarfs originated
c) the composition of ice dwarfs
d) the location of the kuiper belt
e) what role ice dwarfs played in the formation of the giant planets