Download Asteroid Belt

Location
Most of the
asteroids in our solar
system can be found
orbiting the Sun between
the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter.
The asteroid belt
is like a big highway in a
circle around the Sun.
Often, just like cars, they
collide with one another
and break apart creating
smaller asteroids.
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A relatively small, inactive body, composed of
rock, carbon or metal, which is orbiting the
Sun.
Millions of them in our solar system
A large majority of known asteroids orbit in the
asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter
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Individual asteroids are classified by their
characteristic spectra
Three main groups: C-type (carbon-rich), Stype (stony), and M-type (metallic)
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A relatively small, sometimes active object,
which is composed of dirt and ices.
Comets are characterized by dust and gas tails
when in proximity to the Sun.
Far from the Sun it is difficult to distinguish an
asteroid from a comet.
When close enough to sun they may display a
Coma (atmosphere-like covering) and a tail.
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As of January 2011 there are a reported 4,185
known comets in our solar system
It is believed that in total there are more than
one trillion comets in the universe
The number visible to the naked eye averages
roughly one per year
Though many of these are faint and
unspectacular.
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Asteroids have undergone considerable
evolution since their formation. They are
mainly the remnants of particles from the
formation of the solar system that never
became parts of larger bodies.
Therefore, most of the asteroid belt consists of
relatively small objects compared to the
planets, although some large asteroids almost
the size of dwarf planets do exist.
The current asteroid belt is believed to
contain only a small fraction of the mass of
the primordial belt.
Characteristis
Hundreds of thousands
of asteroids are currently known,
and the total number ranges in the
millions or more, depending on the
lower size cutoff. Over 200
asteroids are known to be larger
than 100 km, while a survey in the
infrared wavelengths shows that
the main belt has 700 000 to 1.7
million asteroids with a diameter of
1 km or more. The apparent
magnitudes of most of the known
asteroids are 11–19, with the
median at about 16.
The total mass of the
asteroid belt is estimated to be
3.0×1021–3.6×1021 kilograms, which
is just 4% of the Earth's Moon. Its
four largest objects, 1 Ceres, 4
Vesta, 2 Pallas and 10 Hygiea,
account for half of the belt's total
mass, with almost one-third
accounted for by Ceres alone.
Ceres's orbital distance, 2.8 AU, is
also the location of the asteroid
belt's center of mass.
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In your opinion, should Pluto still be classified
as a planet, like it once was? Or was the
decision to downgrade it to dwarf planet a
good one that should remain?
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A circular disc of objects in the solar system beyond the orbit of
Neptune, orbiting the sun.
Similar to the asteroid belt, but much larger: 20 times as wide and
anywhere from 20 to 200 times as massive.
Like the asteroid belt, it is composed mostly of small bodies,
remnents from the formation of the solar system.
Unlike the asteroid belt, composed mostly of asteroids, the Kuiper
Belt is composed mostly of icy bodies.
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The Kuiper Belt is home to 3 officially
recognized dwarf planets:
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Pluto, (pictured)
Haumea
Makemake
Some of the moons of other planets in the solar
system are also thought to have originated
here.

In your opinion, should Pluto still be classified
as a planet, like it once was? Or was the
decision to downgrade it to dwarf planet a
good one that should remain?