• Question: Which Planet Has The Largest Asteroid Belt?

    Asked by ronaldo to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren, Stephen on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Stars usually have bigger asteroid belts than planets. The sun has a decent asteroid belt, but maybe other stars have bigger belts we just can’t see. Asteroids are really hard to see (which is a bit of a worry if one is coming at us).

    • Photo: colm bracken

      colm bracken answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      The asteroid belt does not really belong to any particular planet. It lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The most common theories of how it formed are based on the attempt of another planet to form in this region. The huge gravity of Jupiter just kept pulling the planet apart each time it tried to grow. There are other belts in the solar system that are much much bigger than the asteroid belt. The Kuiper belt lies out past the orbit of Pluto, and is made from objects similar to Pluto but a bit smaller. Then there is the Oort cloud which extends really far, perhaps as much as a light year in all directions. It is possible that some of the comets we observe come from this region!

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