The asteroid belt, a vast expanse of rocks suspended between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, is gradually disappearing. This region, thought to be the remnants of a planet that never formed, has been shaped by the gravitational influence of Jupiter. The gas giant's presence prevented the material in this area from coalescing into a planet, instead stirring up the region and causing collisions to become destructive.
As a result, the asteroid belt today contains only about 3% of the Moon's mass, scattered across millions of kilometers. Jupiter's influence extends beyond mere prevention of planetary formation. Gravitational resonances, areas in space where the orbital periods of asteroids interact with Jupiter, Saturn, and even Mars, destabilize asteroid orbits.
This destabilization flings fragments either toward the inner Solar System, where Earth resides, or outward toward Jupiter's orbit. Asteroid fragments that remain in the belt are ground down by mutual collisions into meteoritic dust. A team of astronomers, led by Julio Fernández from the Universidad de la República in Uruguay, has calculated the rate of this depletion.
They found that the asteroid belt is currently losing approximately 0. 0088% of the portion still participating in ongoing collisions.
The asteroid belt is found orbiting between Mars and Jupiter and is a vast collection of rocks that is thought to be a planet that never formed.Alternative viewpoints and findings: See here
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