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Contrary to popular imagery, the asteroid belt is mostly empty. The asteroids are spread over such a large volume that reaching an asteroid without aiming carefully would be improbable. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of asteroids are currently known, and the total number ranges in the millions or more, depending on the lower size cutoff.
Most chondrules are composed primarily of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene, surrounded by feldspathic material that may either be glassy or crystalline. Small amounts of other minerals are often present, including Fe sulfide ( troilite ), metallic Fe-Ni, oxides such as chromite , and phosphates such as merrillite .
The fragments then formed Bennu and other "rubble pile" asteroids - loose amalgamations of rocky material rather than solid objects. Early in its history, some of the ice inside the parent body ...
These are composed primarily of S-type asteroids, whereas the neighboring Hungaria family includes some E-types. [101] The Phocaea family orbit between 2.25 and 2.5 AU from the Sun. [102] Skirting the outer edge of the asteroid belt is the Cybele group, orbiting between 3.3 and 3.5 AU. These have a 7:4 orbital resonance with Jupiter.
The origin of water on Earth has long been a contested question — water forms in the course of many chemical reactions, and it is also a major component of comets. A new study reveals that ...
The findings suggest either that the chemistry emerged de novo on both the asteroid and on Earth, or that other, similar asteroids may have brought us the raw ingredients of life when they ...
C-type (carbonaceous / ˌ k ɑːr b ə ˈ n eɪ ʃ ə s /) asteroids are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids. [1] They are volatile-rich and distinguished by a very low albedo because their composition includes a large amount of carbon, in addition to rocks and minerals. They have an average density of about 1.7 g/cm 3.
Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites.