The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. source
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.
The asteroid belt is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets. source
The asteroid belt is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets.
About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. source
About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea.
The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Pluto's moon Charon (whose diameter is 1200 km). source
The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Pluto's moon Charon (whose diameter is 1200 km).
Ceres, the asteroid belt's only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, and 10 Hygiea have mean diameters of less than 600 km. source
Ceres, the asteroid belt's only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, and 10 Hygiea have mean diameters of less than 600 km.
The asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. source
The asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident.
The asteroid belt formed from the primordial solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. source
The asteroid belt formed from the primordial solar nebula as a group of planetesimals.
As a result, 99.9% of the asteroid belt's original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar System's history. source
As a result, 99.9% of the asteroid belt's original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar System's history.
Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. source
Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter.
On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. source
On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.
The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes". source
The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes".
According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids." source
According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids."
Accordingly, in 1802, William Herschel suggested they be placed into a separate category, named "asteroids", after the Greek asteroeides, meaning "star-like" source
Accordingly, in 1802, William Herschel suggested they be placed into a separate category, named "asteroids", after the Greek asteroeides, meaning "star-like"
Contrary to popular imagery, the asteroid belt is mostly empty. source
Contrary to popular imagery, the asteroid belt is mostly empty.
Carbonaceous asteroids, as their name suggests, are carbon-rich. They dominate the asteroid belt's outer regions. source
Carbonaceous asteroids, as their name suggests, are carbon-rich. They dominate the asteroid belt's outer regions.
