The asteroid belt, also known as the main belt, lies in the region of space between Mars and Jupiter.- This rocky debris orbits our Sun in a massive bagel shaped ring.
- Asteroids are mainly composed of metals and rocky material.
- Asteroids are grouped into 3 broad classes, C-type, M-type and S-type asteroids.
- C-type asteroids, mostly made of carbon, are the most common type of asteroid and are among the most ancient objects in the Solar System.
- Roughly 35% of the asteroids in the main belt travel in asteroid families.
- Asteroid families are thought to form when two asteroids collide. The resulting debris field remains loosely connected and travels within the main belt as a group.
- Ceres is the largest of the asteroids in the main belt and was the first to be discovered in 1801.
- When first discovered, Ceres was classified as a planet. As technology improved and other objects were discovered nearby, its classification changed.
- Ceres is now considered a dwarf planet and is officially referred to as both a dwarf planet and an asteroid.
- Ceres is the only dwarf planed in the inner Solar System.
- In January 2014 emissions of water vapor were detected coming from Ceres.
- Ceres is the most massive object in the Asteroid Belt. It makes up nearly 33% of the mass of all of the debris in the asteroid belt.
- The asteroids in the main belt range in size from the size of Ceres to small dust particles.
- If all of the matter in the asteroid belt were gathered together into a ball, the resulting planet like object would be much smaller than our Moon.
- In 1993 the spacecraft Galileo established that Ida, one of the larger asteroids in the main belt, has its own little moon, orbiting around it. This was the first time a non-planet was discovered to have a moon.
- Since 1993 more than 150 asteroids have been discovered to have their own moons; some even have two.
- It is believed that a large asteroid collided with Earth 65 million years ago, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.
- The first space craft to pass through the asteroid belt was Pioneer 10, in 1972.
- Several commercial companies are already exploring the possibilities of mining the rich mineral resources in the asteroid belt.
