What caused the formation of the asteroid belt?

But not all of the ingredients created new worlds. A region between Mars and Jupiter became the asteroid belt. Occasionally people wonder whether the belt was made up of the remains of a destroyed planet, or a world that didn't quite get started. read more

Most of these objects, called planetoids or asteroids — meaning"star-like" — orbit between Mars and Jupiter in a grouping known as the Main Asteroid Belt. The Main Asteroid Belt lies more than two-and-a-half times as far as Earth does from the sun. read more

The asteroid belt may also be divided into the inner and outer belts, with the inner belt formed by asteroids orbiting nearer to Mars than the 3:1 Kirkwood gap (2.5 AU), and the outer belt formed by those asteroids closer to Jupiter's orbit. read more

Giuseppe Piazzi was the one, who discovered the asteroid belt. He was an astronomer as well as an Italian Priest. He discovered Ceres, the largest asteroid. It was between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is considered to be a dwarf planet. It is the largest object in the asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter. read more