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The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than Pluto's, and roughly twice that of Pluto's moon Charon. The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars.
Barring detailed mass determinations, [4] the mass can be estimated from the diameter and assumed density values worked out as below. = Besides these estimations, masses can be obtained for the larger asteroids by solving for the perturbations they cause in each other's orbits, [5] or when the asteroid has an orbiting companion of known orbital radius.
This list includes few examples since there are about 589 asteroids in the asteroid belt with a measured radius between 20 and 49 km. [162] Many thousands of objects of this size range have yet to be discovered in the trans-Neptunian region.
Vesta (radius 262.7 ± 0.1 km), the second-largest asteroid, appears to have a differentiated interior and therefore likely was once a dwarf planet, but it is no longer very round today. [74] Pallas (radius 255.5 ± 2 km ), the third-largest asteroid, appears never to have completed differentiation and likewise has an irregular shape.
Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid from September 26, 2008, to March 8, 2010 [citation needed] MPC: 2010 EQ 169: 91.606° March 8, 2010 Most highly inclined known main-belt asteroid (orbit is not well-known) [citation needed] MPC: 2024 TF 3: 89.154° March 8, 2010 Extremely high-inclined trans-Neptunian object. [citation needed] MPC
The mass of 2 Pallas (blue) compared to other large asteroids: 4 Vesta, 10 Hygiea, 704 Interamnia, 15 Eunomia, the remainder of the asteroid belt, and 1 Ceres. The unit of mass is × 10 18 kg. Both Vesta and Pallas have assumed the title of second-largest asteroid from time to time. [ 47 ]
Observations of the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter, suggest that the water snow line during formation of the Solar System was located within this region. The outer asteroids are icy C-class objects (e.g. Abe et al. 2000; Morbidelli et al. 2000) whereas the inner asteroid belt is largely devoid of water.
The asteroid and comet belts orbit the Sun from the inner rocky planets into outer parts of the Solar System, interstellar space. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] An astronomical unit , or AU, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is approximately 150 billion meters (93 million miles). [ 19 ]