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An asteroid is a minor planet—an object that is neither a true planet nor a comet—that orbits within the inner Solar System. They are rocky, metallic, or icy bodies with no atmosphere. The size and shape of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from small rubble piles under a kilometer across to Ceres, a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter.
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is at least 1,351,400. Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
May 12, 2024 · Asteroid, any of a host of small bodies, about 1,000 km (600 miles) or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in a nearly flat ring called the asteroid belt. Hundreds of thousands of asteroids are known.
May 6, 2024 · Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. A close-up image of the asteroid Ida taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. There are lots of asteroids in our solar system.
Sep 19, 2023 · NASA. An asteroid NASA's been tracking for nearly 25 years could impact Earth in the future, a new report reveals. First discovered in 1999, Bennu, the near-Earth asteroid, could possibly drift ...
- 1 min
- Teddy Grant
- DictionaryAs·ter·oid/ˈastəˌroid/
noun
- 1. a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large numbers of these, ranging in size from nearly 600 miles (1,000 km) across (Ceres) to dust particles, are found (as the asteroid belt) especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, though some have more eccentric orbits, and a few pass close to the earth or enter the atmosphere as meteors.
- 2. an echinoderm of the class Asteroidea, which comprises the starfishes.
adjective
- 1. relating to or denoting echinoderms of the class Asteroidea.
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is: Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
In Depth. Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is: . Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
