2.1–3.3 AU
DISTANCE FROM SUN
~1.1 MILLION
KNOWN ASTEROIDS
4–5.5 YEARS
TYPICAL ORBITAL PERIOD
~4.6 BILLION YEARS
AGE
CERES
LARGEST OBJECT
MARS ↔ JUPITER
LOCATION
THE ROCKY FRONTIER
The asteroid belt is a vast region of
the Solar System located between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
It contains millions of rocky and
metallic bodies known as asteroids.
Most are relatively small, but the region
also contains large objects such as
Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea.
Despite its name, the asteroid belt is
not a densely packed field of rocks.
The average distance between individual
asteroids is enormous, making collisions
between spacecraft and asteroids very rare.
Jupiter's powerful gravity prevented
the material in this region from combining
into a planet during the formation of the
Solar System.
Instead, the asteroid belt remained as
one of the best surviving records of the
early Solar System.
ASTEROID BELT FEATURES
CERES
Ceres is the largest object in the
asteroid belt and is classified as
a dwarf planet.
JUPITER'S GRAVITY
Jupiter's enormous gravity disrupted
the formation of a planet in this region
of the Solar System.
ANCIENT MATERIAL
Asteroids preserve material left over
from the formation of the Solar System
more than 4.5 billion years ago.
DID YOU KNOW?
The asteroid belt contains
millions of objects,
but spacecraft can travel through it
without constantly dodging asteroids.
IMAGE: NASA / JPL / McREL
NASA DAWN MISSION ART · PIA19380
NASA DAWN MISSION ART · PIA19380