Asteroids & the Main Belt: Physical Mechanisms

Asteroids are rocky, metallic, or mixed small bodies left from planet formation, with the largest concentration in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Repeated collisions fragment and reshape asteroids, while gravitational resonances with Jupiter alter orbital eccentricities and remove objects from unstable zones.

Spectra reveal mineral classes, spacecraft have imaged rubble-pile structure and differentiated bodies, meteorites match asteroid compositions, and orbital surveys show families and resonance gaps.