Today is International Asteroid Day! (Sorry Late Post - Jun 30, 2021)
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 more than one million!
Most of this ancient space rubble can be found
orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
Asteroids range in size from Vesta –
the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that
are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across. The total mass of all the asteroids
combined is less than that of Earth's Moon.
This image is an artist's illustration of our solar
system's asteroid belt.
Image Credit:
NASA/McREL
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/picturing-our-solar-systems-asteroid-belt
No comments:
Post a Comment