Help
Add this page to your collection
Show collection (0 pages)
Suggest pagesSolar System/Asteroids
This page may need to be
Contents |
[edit] Location in the solar system
Conventionally asteroids are divided into three groups based on location.
[edit] Asteroids in the main asteroid belt
The main asteroid belt is located between Mars and Jupiter.
[edit] Jupiter Trojans
Jupiter Trojans share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, and are located about 60° ahead of or behind Jupiter in their orbits.
[edit] Near-Earth Objects
Near-Earth Objects are asteroids that spend at least part of their orbit closer to the Sun than Mars. Their perihelions are less than 1.3 AU (Earth-Sun distances) from the Sun.
[edit] Centaurs
Centaurs are objects orbiting between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune that cross the orbit of at least one gas giant planet. They have unstable orbits and have characteristics of both asteroids and comets. They are sometimes classified as asteroids.
[edit] Physical characteristics
[edit] "Families"
[edit] Mass, density, rotation
[edit] Composition
[edit] Chemical variations
[edit] Orbital features
[edit] Size
the sizes of asteroids may vary. some are huge and some may be as tiny as a speck of dust.
[edit] "Life span" of the asteroids
[edit] Ceres
Ceres is the largest asteroid, and in fact is a dwarf planet. See Ceres in the section on dwarf planets.
