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astronomyasteroids (Asteroids ** )

Astronomy — Asteroids


Asteroids

  • There are approximately 100,000 in the asteroid belt.  They range from a few feet to a few hundred miles in diameter.  Approximately 2000 of the asteroids are greater than 6 miles in diameter, and 200 are greater than 60 miles in diameter.
  • The largest known asteroid, Ceres, is 480 miles in diameter.
  • There about 10,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEA’s) and we currently know of only about 100 of them.
  • Asteroids are primarily found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
  • The asteroids are remnants of material that failed to form a planet.  They are located at about 2.8 astronomical units.

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