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Phaeton (alternatively Phaethon / ˈ f eɪ. ə θ ən / or Phaëton / ˈ f eɪ. ə t ən /; from Ancient Greek: Φαέθων, romanized: Phaéthōn, pronounced [pʰa.é.tʰɔːn]) is a hypothetical planet hypothesized by the Titius–Bode law to have existed between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the destruction of which supposedly led to the formation of the asteroid belt (including the ...
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.
Ceres, the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, was once categorized as a planet. In the history of astronomy, a handful of Solar System bodies other than Jupiter have been counted as the fifth planet from the Sun. Various hypotheses have also postulated the former existence of a fifth planet, now destroyed, to explain various ...
[12] [13] Such accounts assumed that a head-on impact would have destroyed both planets, creating a short-lived second asteroid belt between the orbits of Venus and Mars. In contrast, evidence published in January 2016 suggests that the impact was indeed a head-on collision and that Theia's remains are on Earth and the Moon. [14] [15] [16]
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 ]
By Will Dunham. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was a turning point in the history of life on Earth. An asteroid an estimated 6-9 miles (10-15 km) wide slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million ...
Following the discovery of the first asteroids in the early 1800s, it was suggested that the asteroid belt might be the remnants of a planet predicted by the Titius–Bode law to exist between Mars and Jupiter that had somehow been destroyed; this hypothetical former fifth planet is known as Phaëton in astronomy and often dubbed "Bodia" (after ...
A small asteroid will be pulled into orbit around the Earth as a “mini-moon” later this month before the space rock departs into other parts of the solar system.. The 10m-wide asteroid, dubbed ...