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.
Asteroids 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
Asteroid Classifications Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra Three main groups: C-type (carbon-rich), S-type (stony), and M-type (metallic)
Comets 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.
Comets 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.
Evolution 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.
Pluto? 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?
Kuiper Belt 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.
Kuiper Belt The Kuiper Belt is home to 3 officially recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, (pictured) Haumea Makemake Some of the moons of other planets in the solar system are also thought to have originated here.
Pluto? 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?