In Depth | Asteroids - NASA Solar System Exploration
Main Asteroid Belt: The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, generally with not very elongated orbits. The belt is estimated to contain between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in diameter, and millions of …
solar system. The object (2003VB12), since named Sedna for an Inuit goddess who lives at the bottom of the frigid Arctic ocean, approaches the Sun only briefly during its 10,500-year solar orbit. It never enters the Kuiper Belt, whose outer boundary 2005 — Astronomers announce the discovery of 2003UB313.
In Depth | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Kuiper Belt represents an enormous, donut-shaped volume of space in the outer solar system. While there are many icy bodies in this region that we broadly refer to as Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) or trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), they're fairly diverse in size, shape, and color.
Cassini Passes Through Asteroid Belt - NASA Solar System …
Apr 13, 2000 · completed its passage through our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This makes Cassini the seventh spacecraft ever to fly through the asteroid
In Depth | Ceres – NASA Solar System Exploration
Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it's the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. It was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in 1801.
NASA's Dawn Mission to Asteroid Belt Comes to End - NASA Solar …
Nov 1, 2018 · NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1.
The Usual Suspects: a Rogues Gallery of Asteroids, Comets and …
Nov 15, 2018 · Most asteroids are found in a region between Mars and Jupiter called the main asteroid belt, an area where Jupiter’s gravity may have prevented material from coalescing into a large body. There are also asteroids with orbits that stray inside the orbit of Mars, with many that cross the orbit of Earth.
In Depth | Our Solar System - NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system extends much farther than the eight planets that orbit the Sun. The solar system also includes the Kuiper Belt that lies past Neptune's orbit. This is a sparsely occupied ring of icy bodies, almost all smaller than the most popular Kuiper Belt Object – dwarf planet Pluto.
10 Facts about the Pioneer Spacecraft - NASA Solar System …
Sep 30, 2022 · For more than 25 years, Pioneer 10 was the most distant human-made object, breaking records by crossing the asteroid belt, the orbit of Jupiter, and eventually even the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 1, moving even faster, claimed the most distant title in February 1998 and still holds that crown.
Dawn Enters Asteroid Belt -- For Good - NASA Solar System …
Nov 13, 2009 · ASTEROID BELT -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft re-entered our solar system's asteroid belt today, Nov. 13, and this time it will stay there. Dawn first entered the belt (whose lower boundary may be defined as the greatest distance Mars gets from the sun (249,230,000 kilometers, or 154,864,000 miles) in June 2008.