43 Asteroid Belt Facts: Solar System Exploration For You!

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, there is the ancient asteroid belt which more than 217 million mi (350 million km) from the Sun. Asteroids, small and large, move in the asteroid belt.

This torus-shaped region is the original asteroid belt. Jupiter has a mighty gravity that prevents these asteroids from forming a planet.

Some asteroids move beyond the asteroid belt. The inner solar system is the region comprising terrestrial planets and the asteroid belt. Everything beyond Mars falls under the outer solar system. The asteroid belt consists of carbonaceous asteroids, metallic asteroids, and mine asteroids. Asteroids moving near Earth space are attracted to Earth due to its gravitational force. Based on their chemical compositions, asteroids are classified into C-type, S-type, and M-type asteroids.

Read on to know more interesting facts about the asteroid family, total asteroid population, and the entire asteroid belt. Afterward, also check out facts about space train and space rocks.

Origin: Asteroid Belt

Soon after the solar system was formed, dusty and rocky particles circling the Sun were pulled by gravity. Giant planets, aka outer planets, have a greater gravity, so they accumulated in between Mars and Jupiter to form the main asteroid belt.

Are these huge quantum of rocky pieces remains of some burst planet? Contrary to our thought, NASA made it clear that the total mass of these asteroids is lower than the Moon and hence cannot be weighed as a planet. Scientists have different theories regarding asteroid material. Other stars are also believed to contain asteroid belts. The same goes for dwarf planets and other sun-like stars, which show signs of rocky material falling onto them towards the end of their lifetime.

In 1591, Johannes Kepler had noted a planet between Mars and Jupiter. It was an 18th-century German astronomer, Johann Titius, who predicted the existence of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, noticing the lay-out in the pattern of planets. Though he couldn’t clearly mention if they were planets or alien bodies, he was right about a body between them.

Some astronomers got behind this and tried to find this missing planet. It was Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi who discovered a tiny, moving body, which was named Ceres and was followed by the discovery of Pallas, a year later. For quite a long time, it was believed that this body was a planet, for it resembled planets in several dimensions. With the discovery of more such bodies of varying sizes, scientists decided to call them asteroids and not planets.

Formation Of Asteroid Belts

According to the Grand Tack theory, in the first five million years, Jupiter and Saturn are believed to have moved toward the Sun instead of heading back to the outer solar system. While traversing towards the Sun, they might have crashed into several ancient planets. The inner asteroid belt in its present form might be formed from remnants of a destroyed planet.

The main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter is more than three or four time the Earth-Sun distance. The belt spans around 140 million mi (224 million km) and also features the dwarf planet Ceres. Based on the composition and a number of other factors, these objects are grouped under eight subgroups such as Hunarias, Floras, Phocaea, Koronis, Eos, Thermos, Cybeles, and Hildas.

There are relatively empty regions in the asteroid belt, which are known as Kirkwood gaps, that correspond to the orbital resonances of Jupiter. With a huge gravity pull for the planet, these Kirkwood gaps are emptier compared to the other regions, where asteroids lie concentrated.

Evolution of Asteroid Belts

Asteroids in the main belt are composed of rock and stone, while some may even contain iron and nickel in small quantities. Some have a mix of these and yet others evolve to carbon-rich asteroids.

The more distant asteroids are from the Sun, the icier in nature they will be. Much to our surprise, though they are not large enough to form an atmosphere, some may contain water.

Despite its size, this small structure makes up a third of the mass of the asteroid belt. The solar system, which once had nine planets, excluded Pluto. It was too small to be considered a planet and was labeled a dwarf planet.

All asteroids may not necessarily contain rocky-iron particles. Some are just piles of rubble held together by gravity. They often look like lumpy potatoes with irregular spherical shapes. The asteroid named ‘216 Kleopatra’ resembles a dog bone.

Characteristics of Asteroid Belts

The first asteroid, also the largest, discovered was Ceres, in 1801. Ceres is now considered a dwarf planet. Asteroids and their fragments can crash into planets. Vesta is the largest asteroid that belongs to a family.

Asteroids are not remnants of the infancy of the primordial solar system. Internal heating, surface melting from impacts, space weathering from radiation, and bombardment by micrometeorites have all played a role in asteroids' evolution since their formation.

Asteroids have too much orbital energy. Asteroids form star constellations. Even silicate asteroids look like tiny moving objects to us. The solar system, which once had nine planets, excluded Pluto. It was too small to be considered a planet and was labeled a dwarf planet.

Most belt asteroids stay in their asteroids' orbit but sometimes they leave the orbit too. Asteroid bodies are found on Earth as a result of them falling. Visible asteroids are spotted with the help of our satellites. In our solar system's history, asteroids have left their orbits many times. All the planets including and before Mars are inner planets. The average distance between the asteroid closing on Earth is calculated with the help of our satellites. The asteroid belt formed millions of years ago. An asteroid might be visible to us as a dust particle but is huge.

You might have definitely heard of mining and exploitation of minerals on Earth. But are we greedy enough to mine from asteroids? Asteroid mining is the extraction and exploitation of minerals and other materials from asteroids and other minor planets. Asteroid mining is actually common.

Collisions of Asteroid Belts

Frequent collisions occur due to the high population of asteroids in the active environment.

Dust particles from collisions in the asteroid belt emits luminous, zodiacal light. The faint auroral glow can be viewed at night and appears picturesque. The debris from these collisions forms meteoroids that enter the Earth’s surface.

Meteorites and Asteroid Belts

Here are some facts on meteorites you were yearning to explore.

A solid piece of debris from a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid that moves from outer space and lands on the surface of a planet or moon is called a meteorite. Our Earth bathes in meteor showers every year. This happens when Earth passes through a trail of dust left by a comet. Meteors in a shower seem to shoot out from a single point.

This point is called a radiant. Earth passes through several meteor showers every year. Sporadic meteors can be seen every night. They are caused by specks of dust from burning comets. These comets burn up in the atmosphere at a height of about 100 km. They appear suddenly in the night sky and last for a fraction of a second.

The asteroid belt is the solar system's smallest and innermost circumstellar disc. Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea, the four largest asteroids, contain around half of the planet's mass. The total mass of the asteroid belt is around 4% that of the Earth's Moon.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for asteroid belt facts then why not take a look at 1961 space chimp name or Apollo 13 space mission.