Asteroid Belt

1. Asteroid Belt The Missing Planet?

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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)

6. 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

7. Asteroid Belt Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z4GdGwu9dM

8. 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