Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Asteroid Belt, Main

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 207 Accesses

Synonym

Main asteroid belt

Definition

The asteroid belt is a region of the Solar System between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter that contains the orbits of most of the known asteroids (over 600,000 to date). The reason for the existence of the asteroid belt is thought to be gravitational perturbations of the orbits of planetesimals and planetary embryos (planetary building blocks) in the region by the massive planet Jupiter that have prevented these objects from combining to form a planet. Collisions between objects in the asteroid belt cause them to be ground down into an ever-increasing number of smaller bodies.

See Also

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Planetary Research, DLR, Rutherfordstraße 2, 12489, Berlin, Germany

    Alan W. Harris

Authors
  1. Alan W. Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan W. Harris .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Harris, A.W. (2014). Asteroid Belt, Main. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_117-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_117-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Asteroid Belt, Main
    Published:
    26 November 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_117-3

  2. Original

    Asteroid Belt, Main
    Published:
    30 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_117-2

Search

Navigation