Asteroid Belt

The Missing Planet?

Physical Characteristics Definition :

Composed of irregularly-shaped objects 0.7 to 1.7 million asteroids (1 km or larger)

½ Mass is contained in 4 largest asteroids Ceres Vesta Pallas Hygiea

Largest Asteroid : Ceres Diameter : 590 miles

Asteroid Belt Orbit Location

Region between Mars & Jupiter Average Distance to Sun

186 to 370 million miles Main Belt : 3.27 AU

Greatest concentration of bodies Period of Revolution

3 to 6 Earth years Asteroid material thinly distributed

Spacecraft pass through without a collision

Ceres Surface & Atmosphere

Terrain : Smooth with impact craters Temperature Range

-106 ˚C to -38 ˚C

Atmosphere Weak (Composed of water vapor)

Geology Thin dusty outer layer Water-Ice Layer Rocky Inner Core

Appears white & blue (possible comet properties)

Asteroid Belt Discovery 1st Asteroid Discovered By : Giuseppe Piazzi

Date Discovered : January 1, 1801

NASA Missions :

NEAR : Mathilde (1997), Eros (1998)

Dawn : Vesta (2011) & Ceres (2015)

Hayabusa : Landed on Itokawa (2005)

Asteroid Belt Facts Asteroids are also known as “minor

planets” Phaeton

Hypothetical planet to exist Disrupted due to Jupiter’s pull

Chicxulub Crater Formed 65 mya near Fort Dodge, Iowa

Allende Meteorite Evidence of supernova 4.5 billion years ago

Tunguska Event Asteroid exploded in air in Tunguska,

Siberia (1906)

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Asteroid Belt Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

7Z4GdGwu9dM

Literature Cited http://ksiezyce.astrowww.pl/asteroidbelt_en.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/html

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Asteroid_belt

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/Asteroidbelt