The asteroid belt, with its many small rocky bodies, looks in some ways like the whole inner solar system might have looked roughly 10 to 100 million years after the Sun was born. So why doesn't the asteroid belt condense and form a planet? First of all, there's not enough total mass in the belt to form a planet.
Why didn't the asteroid belt form into a planet?
It seems like there’s a strange gap in between Mars and Jupiter filled with rocky rubble. Why didn’t the asteroid belt form into a planet, like the rest of the Solar System? Beyond the orbit of Mars lies the asteroid belt its a vast collection of rocks and ice, leftover from the formation of the solar system.
Is it dangerous to fly a spacecraft through the asteroid belt?
There’d be absolutely no danger or tactical advantage to flying your spacecraft through it. To begin with, there actually isn’t that much stuff in the asteroid belt. If you were to take the entire asteroid belt and form it into a single mass, it would only be about 4% of the mass of our Moon.
How were the terrestrial planets formed?
Briefly describe the process by which terrestrial planets are thought to have formed. Answer: Terrestrial planets formed inside the frost line, where accretion allowed tiny, solid grains of metal and rock to grow into planetesimals that ultimately merged to make the planets we see today
What lies beyond the orbit of Mars?
Beyond the orbit of Mars lies the asteroid belt its a vast collection of rocks and ice, leftover from the formation of the solar system. It starts about 2 AU, ends around 4 AU. Objects in the asteroid belt range from tiny pebbles to Ceres at 950 km across. Star Wars and other sci-fi has it all wrong.
Why didn't a terrestrial planet form at the location of the asteroid belt?
Why didn't a terrestrial planet form at the location of the asteroid belt? Jupiter's gravity kept planetesimals from accreting. What's the leading theory for the origin of the Moon?
Why didn't a planet form where the asteroid belt is now located quizlet?
Why didn't a planet form where the asteroid belt is now located? Gravitational tugs from Jupiter prevented material from collecting together to form a planet. (Early in the solar system's history there should have been plenty of material to form a planet here, but Jupiter's gravity prevented it.
Where is the asteroid belt located and why why didn't a full planet form instead explain how orbital resonances with Jupiter affect the asteroid belt?
Where is the asteroid belt located, and why? Briefly explain how orbital resonances with Jupiter have affected the asteroid belt. Answer: It is between Mars and Jupiter because of orbital resonance. The orbital resonances clear gaps in the asteroid belt.
Did a planet once form where the asteroid belt is now found?
Several works of fiction feature a supposed planet (sometimes named Phaeton or Maldek) existing in the past between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, which somehow became the Solar System's asteroid belt.
Did a large terrestrial planet ever formed in the region of the asteroid belt?
Did a large terrestrial planet ever form in the region of the asteroid belt? -No, because there was never enough mass there.
What causes gaps observed in the asteroid belt?
What causes the "gaps" observed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter? Jupiter's gravity causes orbital resonances that nudge asteroids out of these areas.
Where is the asteroid belt located and why quizlet?
Where is the asteroid belt located? The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets.
Why are asteroids not considered planets?
Asteroids were not considered planets because they are too small and numerous. Likewise, comets were not considered planets because they are too small and have noncircular orbits that go far outside the plane of the solar system (location of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, and the other “real” planets).
What planet formed the asteroid belt?
A region between Mars and Jupiter became the asteroid belt. Occasionally people wonder whether the belt was made up of the remains of a destroyed planet, or a world that didn't quite get started. However, according to NASA, the total mass of the belt is less than the moon, far too small to weigh in as a planet.
Why do astronomers today think that we have an asteroid belt and not a planet between Mars and Jupiter?
Why do astronomers today think that we have an asteroid belt and not a planet between Mars and Jupiter? Jupiter's gravity prevented material in that zone from getting together.
What is the origin of the asteroid belt?
How did the asteroid belt form? The classical view is that the asteroid belt formed within the gassy, dusty disc swirling around the primordial Sun, as a swarm of leftover planetesimals, with an initial mass of perhaps several Earth masses in total.
How big a planet would the asteroid belt make?
The four largest asteroids in the belt are called Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. These large asteroids make up about half of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. Scientists like to say that if you combined all of these rocky asteroids together, it would make a planet a bit smaller than Earth's moon.
What is the asteroids belt?
The Asteroid Belt in between Mars and Jupiter is a vast collection of rocks and ice that was leftover from our solar system’s formation. And early on, in this formation there may have been enough material in the main portion of the Asteroid Belt to create a planet 4 times the size of the Earth, so why did not all this space material collect and become the 5th planet from the Sun? Well, astronomers think that the early creation of Jupiter pretty much put a stop to the formation of a planet within this region.
How did Jupiter's gravitational pull affect the asteroids?
Jupiter’s gravitational pull is so intense that asteroids would have been destabilized, they would have been thrown out of orbit and pushed inwards towards the Sun or outwards into the outer solar system. Whatever was leftover would have been slowly pulled together creating gaps in the belt called Kirkwood gaps and these prevent a planet from ever forming. So, because of Jupiter, asteroids collected into groups of debris rather than a single planetary body. But even if all of the rock and ice that currently makes up the Asteroid Belt suddenly grouped together in one single body, it is believed that it would only measure around 50% of our own moon’s mass which would make it a pretty small planet.
How many planets are there in our solar system?
Within our solar system there are 8 planets, but could there have been another planet to add to our solar system’s group? which existed in between Mars and Jupiter which is the current location of Asteroid Belt? Scientists think that the planets form within the disc of remaining gas and dust swirling around a young star. Over millions of years, much of the leftover material, clusters together to become larger and larger until a planet eventually takes shape just like our own planet Earth did 4.5 billion years ago as the third planet from the Sun.
Is the asteroids belt a dwarf planet?
The gravitational force of Ceres is not great enough to overpower other objects in its path as it orbits around the Sun, which means it is only classed a Dwarf Planet much like the downgraded Pluto.
How long ago did asteroids form?
Asteroids are leftovers from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Early on, the birth of Jupiter prevented any planetary bodies from forming in the gap between Mars and Jupiter, causing the small objects that were there to collide with each other and fragment into the asteroids seen today.
Who discovered the missing planet?
The 18th-century astronomer Johann Titius noted a mathematical pattern in the layout of the planets and used it to predict the existence of one between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers scoured the heavens in search of this missing body. In 1800, 25 astronomers formed a group known as the Celestial Police, each searching 15 degrees of the zodiac for the missing planet. But the discovery of the first body in this region came from a nonmember, Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi: he named it Ceres. A second body, Pallas, was found a little over a year later.
How did terrestrial planets form?
Answer: Terrestrial planets formed inside the frost line, where accretion allowed tiny, solid grains of metal and rock to grow into planetesimals that ultimately merged to make the planets we see today .
Why is the formation of a planet similar to that of a planet?
Answer:Similar-The formation was similar due to accretion which is the process of small solid rock"seed" as they grew into planets and once the gases came from a solid material. The two also have planetesimals which are "pieces of planets".
What are the rocky remnants of the solar system?
Answer: Asteroids are the rocky leftover planetesimals of the inner solar system. Comets were the ice-rich leftover planetesimals in the outer solar system. Comets have remained near their orginal orbits in the same general plane which happens to be the donut shaped region called the Kuiper Belt.
What is the name of the cloud of gas and dust that compresses the gas and heats up?
Answer: Solar nebula is a massive cloud of gas and dust that collapses into itself, compresses the gas, heats up, and eventually (assuming its massive enough) begins nuclear fusion creating a star. The dust clumps together to form planetary bodies and whatnot. And you get a solar system.
Where are comets found?
Comets have remained near their orginal orbits in the same general plane which happens to be the donut shaped region called the Kuiper Belt. Comets are found in the Oort Cloud because they are essential "kicked-out" in random directions and roam around the jovian planets and suffered close gravitaional encounters with these planets.
How would impact have formed the moon?
According to computer simulations, this material could have collected into orbit around out planet, and accretion within this rind of debris could have formed the Moon. Evidence to support this hypothesis comes from two features of the Moon's composition like the moon's overall composition is similar to Earth's and the Moon has a much smaller proportion of easily vaporized ingredients such as water than Earth.
Which theory of solar system formation has been accepted by many scientists?
The nebular theory of solar system formation gained wide acceptance because of its success in explaining the major characteristics of our solar system.