Asteroid Facts - Science@NASA
WEBMost asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical, and they are often pitted or cratered. As they revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits, the asteroids also rotate, sometimes quite erratically, tumbling as they go. More than 150 asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two moons).
Asteroid - Wikipedia
WEBThe size and shape of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from small rubble piles under a kilometer across and larger than meteoroids, to Ceres, a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter.
In Depth | Asteroids - NASA Solar System Exploration
WEBMany Shapes and Sizes. Most asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical, and they are often pitted or cratered. As they revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits, the asteroids also rotate, sometimes quite erratically, tumbling as they go. More than 150 asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two ...
What Is an Asteroid? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
WEBSep 13, 2024 · Asteroids aren’t all round like planets. They have jagged and irregular shapes. Some asteroids are hundreds of miles in diameter, but many more are as small as pebbles. Most asteroids are made of different kinds of rocks, but some have clays or metals, such as nickel and iron.
Asteroid | Definition, Size, & Facts | Britannica
WEBSep 10, 2024 · Asteroid, any of a host of small bodies, about 1,000 km (600 miles) or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in a nearly flat ring called the asteroid belt. Hundreds of thousands of asteroids are known.
Asteroid - Orbit, Composition, Shape | Britannica
WEBSep 10, 2024 · Asteroid - Orbit, Composition, Shape: The rotation periods and shapes of asteroids are determined primarily by monitoring their changing brightness on timescales of minutes to days.
What are asteroids? | Space
WEBJul 28, 2023 · Asteroids come in a variety of shapes and sizes and teach us about the formation of the solar system.
Asteroids - NASA Science
WEBMost asteroids can be found orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Asteroids range in size from Vesta – the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across.
Asteroids: What Are They and Where Do They Come From?
WEBJul 15, 2014 · Asteroids are rocky objects primarily found in the asteroid belt, a region of the solar system that lies more than 2 ½ times as far from the Sun as Earth does, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. These objects are sometimes called minor planets or planetoids.
Physical characteristics and composition of asteroids
WEBasteroid, Any of the many rocky small bodies that orbit the Sun mainly in a flat ring, the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.