asteroid belt

Also known as the asteroid belt, main asteroid belt, the main asteroid belt, main belt

the circumstellar disk (accumulation of matter) in an orbit around Sun between those of Mars and Jupiter

AI overview

The asteroid belt is a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter filled with rocky remnants left over from the formation of our solar system. Scientists study it to understand how planets form and to track objects that could potentially affect Earth.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: ring system
Subclass of: minor planet group
Parent body: Sun
Child body: 10057 L'Obel

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Commons category: Main Belt asteroids
topic's main category: Category:Main-belt asteroids
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Astronomy

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Encyclopedic overview

The asteroids of the inner Solar System and Jupiter: the belt is located between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars.

By far the largest object within the belt is the dwarf planet Ceres. The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than Pluto's, and roughly twice that of Pluto's moon Charon.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “asteroid belt” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.