ASTR 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Asteroid Belt
Document Summary
The outer solar system: asteroids 10/28. No physical significance as far as anyone can figure out. Thin, dusty outer crust, water ice layer, rocky inner core. Differentiated---> molten at formation (same as ceres) Main asteroid belt----> between mars and jupiter. Made from debris from a planet that did not form. Many in orbit with jupiter (60 degrees ahead of and behind jupiter) Jupiter"s gravitational influence affects orbits all the way to mars. Prevented planet from forming in the asteroid belt. Jupiter yanks on orbits which causes asteroids to hit other things. Hit earth a long time ago leaving k-t boundary layer. Crater rim in southern mexico and in yucatan. Earth gains mass bc of collisions (called accretion) Dinosaurs became extinct bc of this impact 65 million years ago. Phobos and deimos (not technically asteroids anymore) Phobos has decaying orbit that will cause mars ring or impact. More of rubble piles than solid objects.
