Table of Contents
- 1 How big would the planet be from the asteroid belt?
- 2 Is there enough material in the asteroid belt to make a planet?
- 3 Can asteroids be planet-sized?
- 4 Is Pluto destroyed?
- 5 Is the asteroid belt an exploded planet?
- 6 What is the mass of the asteroid main belt?
- 7 What would happen if Jupiter did not exist?
How big would the planet be from the asteroid belt?
Ceres constitutes about 1/3 of the mass of the asteroid belt. Assuming the same density, the whole asteroid belt combined into one planet would have 3 times greater volume than Ceres and 3√3=1.44…
Is there enough material in the asteroid belt to make a planet?
7 The Asteroid Belt. The asteroid belt currently contains only enough material to make a planet 2000 times less massive than Earth, even though the spatial extent of the belt is huge.
Can asteroids be planet-sized?
Our solar system appears to be home to a huge and unknown dwarf planet-sized asteroid, according to a new study. The parent asteroid appears to be roughly the size of Ceres, the dwarf planet is the biggest object in the asteroid belt, the researchers say.
How much material is in the asteroid belt?
The total mass of the asteroid belt is estimated to be 2.39×1021 kilograms, which is just 3\% of the mass of the Moon. The four largest objects, Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, and 10 Hygiea, account for maybe 62\% of the belt’s total mass, with 39\% accounted for by Ceres alone.
How much material is in asteroid belt?
Is Pluto destroyed?
FYI: Pluto is not destroyed, it is no longer considered a planet as per the definitions of astronomy, and now it comes under the category of “Dwarf Planet”.
Is the asteroid belt an exploded planet?
Astronomers used to believe that the objects within the asteroid belt were the remnant of a planet smaller than Earth’s moon that had exploded. However this theory is now accepted to be untrue and it is thought the asteroids were never part of a planet.
What is the mass of the asteroid main belt?
The mass of the asteroid main belt is estimated at 4\% the mass of our moon according to Wikipedia so any object formed from the aggregation of that mass would not be a planet. It would be the size of a very small moon.
What if all the asteroids in the Solar System were one planet?
Even if all the asteroids in the solar system were combined, the total mass would be below a third of the moon’s mass. Ceres constitutes about 1/3 of the mass of the asteroid belt. Assuming the same density, the whole asteroid belt combined into one planet would have 3 times greater volume than Ceres and 3 3 = 1.44… times greater radius.
Could the asteroid belt have formed without Jupiter?
The asteroid belt is not the wreckage of a destroyed planet, but a planet that could not form. In this illustration, the asteroid belt is the white donut-shaped cloud. Image via Wikimedia Commons. The gravity of Jupiter, as well as other giant planets, prevented this.
What would happen if Jupiter did not exist?
That would be one big planet! The current mass of the asteroid belt is just a few percent that of the Moon. However, if Jupiter did not exist, it might be that there would have been a full-sized terrestrial planet where the asteroid belt is now. I say “might” because I am basing my statement on the Grand Tack Hypothesis .