Asteroids in the Solar System

In the diagram of the solar system, where is the big gap that bugged astronomers?

• between Mars and Jupiter
• between Jupiter and Saturn
• between Saturn and Uranus
• between Uranus and Neptune

Giuseppe Piazzi's discovery, the first known asteroid, was named _____

• Ceres
• Vesta
• Lutetia
• Gaspra

The word 'asteroid' literally means _____

• little dot
• star-like
• tiny point
• brilliant one

How many asteroids have been discovered to date?

• 450
• thousands
• tens of thousands
• hundreds of thousands

In our solar system, there are probably over a million asteroids larger than _____

• 1 km in size
• 10 km in size
• 100 km in size
• 500 km in size

What percentage of asteroids are carbonaceous, which means they have lots of carbon in them?

• 35%
• 55%
• 75%
• 95%

One sixth of the asteroids are silicon-based rock, and are called _____.

• silicaceous
• stoney
• metalloids
• SA Type

So many asteroids orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter that this region is now called _____

• the central region
• the M-J divide
• the Kirkwood Gap
•  the main belt

Asteroid deserts, or gaps in the main belt, are a result of _____

• tugs from Jupiter's gravity
• collisions with other asteroids
• defects during formation
• interactions with inner planets

On average, how far apart are decent-sized asteroids?

• dozens of kilometers apart
• hundreds of kilometers apart
• thousands of kilometers apart
•  millions of kilometers apart