A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

What is the main difference between a planet and an asteroid?

Best Answers

Since a lot of publicity has been done on the discovery of new planets in our solar system, here is a different point of view. What is a planet ? ... Here is a view of the solar system, as seen from above, with the 4 largest planets (Jupiter Saturn Uranus and Neptune) and all asteroids with a semi major axis larger than 6 AU. read more

Most asteroids in our solar system are part of the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid belt consists of tens of thousands asteroids. They are generally rocks that have a high metallic content but no atmosphere. The size of an asteroid can range anywhere between a few meters wide and hundreds of km wide. read more

Largely just a matter of size. A planet is deemed to be a planet if it is large enough to be spherical, and be able to clear its orbit of debris. read more

We normally divide planets in gas giants (eventhough Uranus and Neptune are different from Jupiter and Saturn), in telluric planets, and the smaller objects are normally called asteroids. There is a main belt of asteroids, between Mars and Jupiter, Earth Crossing asteroids, Centaurs (between Jupiter and Neptune) and transneptunian objects. read more

Encyclopedia Research

Related Types

Image Answers

What are the differences between planets, dwarf planets ...
Source: quora.com

Further Research