Endless Facts, One Snippet at a Time
Asteroids: The Solar System’s Leftovers
- Asteroids are rocky remnants left over from the solar system’s formation 4.6 billion years ago.
- Most are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- They range in size from tiny pebbles to dwarf-planet-sized worlds like Ceres.
- Asteroids are made mostly of rock, metal, and sometimes ice.
- They come in different types: carbon-rich (C-type), stony (S-type), and metallic (M-type).
- Collisions between asteroids can create meteorites that sometimes fall to Earth.
- Some asteroids follow paths that bring them close to Earth, called Near-Earth Objects.
- NASA tracks thousands of these to monitor potential impact risks.
- Mining asteroids for metals and water is a concept being explored for future space missions.
- Studying asteroids helps scientists understand how planets and life may have formed.