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Asteroids


There are some 40,000 large asteroids within the Solar system. Many (but not all) lie in a vague band between Mars and Jupiter ... sometimes called the Asteroid Belt. To list all of them here would be impractical, so here are the largest:


Asteroid      Distance      Year       Day   Diameter
Ceres          2.66 AU   4.60 yr   0.378 d      0.074
Vesta          2.26 AU   3.63 yr   0.223 d      0.045
Pallas         2.45 AU   4.62 yr   0.325 d      0.041
Hygeia         2.95 AU   5.54 yr   0.729 d      0.034
Davida         2.90 AU   5.66 yr   0.217 d      0.030
Interamnia     2.84 AU   5.36 yr   0.363 d      0.026
Cybele         3.25 AU   6.36 yr   0.254 d      0.024
Europa         3.04 AU   5.48 yr   0.233 d      0.023
Sylvia         3.34 AU   6.50 yr   0.217 d      0.022
Patientia      2.96 AU   5.36 yr   0.404 d      0.022
Euphrosyne     2.79 AU   5.58 yr   0.230 d      0.021
Eunomia        2.40 AU   4.30 yr   0.253 d      0.020
Bamberga       2.23 AU   4.39 yr   1.225 d      0.020
Psyche         2.73 AU   5.00 yr   0.175 d      0.019
Juno           2.33 AU   4.36 yr   0.300 d      0.018

As was stated above the Asteroid Belt is a vaguely defined region. Many asteroids have highly eccentric orbits that actually cross those of other planets. Aten asteroids are those that have an average distance from the sun of less than 1 AU which MAY cross the Earth's orbit (the largest is 1986-TO with a diameter of 3 km). Apollo asteroids have an average distance from the sun of more than 1 AU but cross the Earth's orbit (the largest is Hephaistos with a diameter of 8.8 km). Amor asteroids cross the orbit of Mars but not the orbit of Earth (the largest is Ganymed with a diameter of 40 km).

In addition to the main concentration a second, mini-belt, lies roughly between 35 AU and 45 AU from the sun. This is called the Kuiper Belt. Some astronomers classify Pluto itself as a Kuiper Belt object. The six largest Kuiper Belt objects (not including Pluto) are:


Asteroid      Distance       Year   Diameter
1993-SC        39.5 AU   248.2 yr      0.025
1992-QB        43.9 AU   290.2 yr      0.022
1993-FW        43.9 AU   291.2 yr      0.020
Chiron         13.5 AU    50.7 yr      0.016
Pholus         20.4 AU    93.0 yr      0.016
1993-SB        39.4 AU   247.5 yr      0.015

Many asteroids are not is stable orbits. Eros, an Amor type asteroid with a diameter of 22 km, is due to strike the Earth in about 100,000 years from now. However, since a lot of the smaller asteroids remain unclassified, and sometimes even undetected, the risk of an Earth-strike in the near future remains ever present.

FAQ - Astronomical Glossary


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