Cosma / Communication / Knowledge / Realm / Physical / Universe / Solar System / Asteroid Belt
—————————
Introduction1
American Museum of Natural History (YouTube Channel)
American Museum of Natural History (Official Website)
Encyclopedia
Asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called asteroids or minor planets. It is also called the main asteroid belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half its mass is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. The total mass of the asteroid belt is about 4% that of the Moon. Ceres, the only object in the asteroid belt large enough to be a dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea have mean diameters less than 600 km. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle. — Wikipedia
Asteroid Belt (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Asteroid Belt (COSMOS: The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy)
Asteroid Belt (Wolfram Alpha)
Minor Planets (Wolfram Alpha)
———————–
Inspiration
Articles about the Asteroid Belt (Big Think)
———————-
Innovation
Science
Dawn was a space probe that was launched by NASA in September 2007 with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 16, 2011, and completed a 14-month survey mission before leaving for Ceres in late 2012. It entered orbit around Ceres on March 6, 2015. In 2017, NASA announced that the planned nine-year mission would be extended until the probe’s hydrazine fuel supply was depleted. On November 1, 2018, NASA announced that Dawn had depleted its hydrazine, and the mission was ended. The spacecraft is currently in a derelict, but stable, orbit around Ceres. Dawn is the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies, the first spacecraft to visit Vesta and Ceres, and the first to orbit a dwarf planet. — Wikipedia
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (YouTube Channel)
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Official Website)
Dawn (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, YouTube Playlist)
Legacy of NASA’s Dawn, Near the End of its Mission (NASA/JPL)
Dawn (JPL, NASA)
Dawn Mission (NASA)
————————–
Preservation
History
Asteroids: The Discovery of Asteroids (European Space Agency)
Discovery of Asteroids (National Air and Space Museum)
Library
DDC: 523.44 Asteroid Belt (Library Thing)
Subject: Asteroid Belt (Library Thing)
Subject: Asteroid Belt (Open Library)
LCC: QB 651 Asteroid Belt (Library of Congress)
Subject: Asteroid Belt (Library of Congress)
Subject: Asteroid Belt (WorldCat)
—————————
Participation
Education
Asteroid Belt (Cosmos4Kids)
Planets and Dwarf Planets (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)
MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources
Community
Organization
Minor Planet Center (International Astronomical Union)
News
Asteroid Belt (JSTOR)
Asteroid Belt (Astronomy Magazine)
Asteroid Belt (Phys.org)
Government
Document
More…
Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.
- Meteorite discovery: Unusual finds by South...on September 28, 2023 at 5:07 pm
Meteorites—fragments of rock that have fallen to Earth from space in spectacularly fiery meteors—have been the subject of public fascination, awe, myths and even religious worship for thousands of years.
- Gaia is now finding planets—could it find...on September 26, 2023 at 1:27 pm
The ESA launched Gaia in 2013 with one overarching goal: to map more than one billion stars in the Milky Way. Its vast collection of data is frequently used in published research. Gaia is an ambitious mission, though it seldom makes headlines on its own.
- NASA spacecraft delivering biggest sample yet...on September 20, 2023 at 5:44 pm
Planet Earth is about to receive a special delivery—the biggest sample yet from an asteroid.
- Do the gaps in protoplanetary disks really...on September 13, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Roughly 5 billion years ago Earth was in the process of forming. Gas and dust gathered with the young sun's protoplanetary disk, likely nudged a bit by the resonant gravitational pull of Jupiter and other large worlds. One can imagine that as Earth formed it swept its orbit clear of debris, leaving a gap in the disk visible from light years away. While we know this tale is reasonably accurate, the idea that planets such as Earth always clear gaps in a protoplanetary disk likely isn't.
- NASA's Lucy spacecraft captures its first images...on September 12, 2023 at 4:17 pm
The small dot moving against the background of stars is the first view from NASA's Lucy spacecraft of the main belt asteroid Dinkinesh, the first of 10 asteroids that the spacecraft will visit on its 12-year voyage of discovery. Lucy captured these two images on Sept. 2 and 5, 2023. On the left, the image blinks between these first two images of Dinkinesh. On the right, the asteroid is circled to aid the eye.
- NASA's Psyche mission on track for liftoff next...on September 6, 2023 at 8:17 pm
Bound for a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, the Psyche mission is targeting Oct. 5 to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- Japanese astrophysicists suggest possibility of...on September 1, 2023 at 2:24 pm
A pair of astrophysicists, one with Kindai University, the other the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, both in Japan, have found possible evidence of an Earth-like planet residing in the Kuiper Belt. In their paper published in The Astronomical Journal, Patryk Sofia Lykawka and Takashi Ito describe properties of the Kuiper Belt that they believe are consistent with the existence of a planet not much bigger than Earth.
- Long wait nearly over for Psyche asteroid probe's...on August 23, 2023 at 9:05 pm
Just off a tree-covered side road past businesses selling boats and fishing gear sits a fenced-off building that's home to a $700 million satellite nearly ready for launch. Its mission: To study the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, which scientists suspect could mirror the inner core of Earth and other planets in the solar system.
- NASA's Psyche mission to a metal world may reveal...on August 18, 2023 at 5:23 pm
French novelist Jules Verne delighted 19th-century readers with the tantalizing notion that a journey to the center of the Earth was actually plausible.
- Winchcombe meteorite is helping scientists to...on August 7, 2023 at 2:15 pm
One of the U.K.'s most famous meteorites is helping scientists learn more about asteroids millions of kilometers away from Earth.
——–
Related
Here are links to pages about closely related subjects.
“Fundamentals”
Law (Constant) Relativity
Force Gravity, Electromagnetism (Light, Color)
Matter (Microscope) Molecule, Atom (Periodic Table), Particle
“Space”
Universe (Astronomical Instrument)
Galaxy Milky Way, Andromeda
Planetary System Star, Brown Dwarf, Planet, Moon
Our Neighborhood
Solar System Sun
Terrestrial Planet Mercury, Venus, Earth (Moon), Mars
Asteroid Belt Ceres, Vesta
Jovian Planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Trans-Neptunian Object
Kuiper Belt Pluto, Haumea, Makemake
Scattered Disc Eris, Sedna, Planet X
Oort Cloud Etc. Scholz’s Star
Small Body Comet, Centaur, Asteroid
——
Notes
1. The resources on this page are are organized by a classification scheme developed exclusively for Cosma.