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Our Solar System |
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| Home | The Sun | The Planets | Asteroids | Comets | Quiz |
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Asteroids are rubble left over from the formation of the Solar System. The first asteroid was discovered in 1801 and was named Ceres. After the discovery of Ceres, astronomers started actively looking for asteroids and found many more. They range in size from blocks the size of a mountain, to asteroids the size of Ceres which is one of the largest and is about a quarter of the size of our Moon. Asteroids are too faint to see without binoculars or a telescope. |
| Most asteroids orbit in a region called the asteroid belt between Mars And Jupiter, but some stray away from this orbit and can come very close to the Earth. Astronomers are constantly looking out for asteroids that are likely to pass close to the Earth, as they would cause havoc if they hit us. |
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About 65,000,000 years ago, the dinosaurs, that were roaming the Earth at the time, mysteriously died out. It is believed that an asteroid hit the Earth causing huge clouds of dust to rise high into the atmosphere, effectively changing the climate of the world for many years. The dinosaurs could not survive this period of new climate and died out. If another asteroid hit the Earth today, it would be the human race that would become extinct. |
| Distance From The Sun (km) | 415 million |
| Time to Spin on Axis | 9 hours |
| Time to Orbit the Sun | 4.6 Earth Years |
| Diameter (km) | 940 |
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