 An asteroid is any of numerous small planetary bodies that revolve around the sun. Asteroids are also called minor planets or planetoids. Most of the asteroids are in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

 Asteroids are small celestial bodies. An asteroid is rock and is a naturally solid object, that size is smaller then a planet.

 The diameters vary in every asteroid. There are multiple sizes of asteroids.  The 3 largest asteroids known are: › Ceres- Largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. It has a diameter of 975 km. (610 miles) › Pallas/ Vestas- Each of these asteroids have a diameters over 500 km. (300 miles) Interesting Fact: Occasionally, Vesta can be seen by the human eye.

 Since asteroids are not planets, they do NOT have any moons. However, asteroids orbit around the sun. However…  Asteroid 243 Ida and its tiny asteroid moon, Dactyl. This is the first asteroid ever found with an orbiting moon.

 Most asteroids follow elliptical (oval- shaped) orbits in the asteroid belt.  Many asteroids follow orbits outside the belt. Example: Asteroids called Trojans follow the same orbit as Jupiter.

ASTEROID BELT : The asteroid belt is a region between inner planets and outer planets where thousand of asteroids are found orbiting the sun. The main asteroid belt is located between Mars and Jupiter.  More than 7,000 asteroids have been discovered.  The asteroid belt was discovered in 1766, by Johann Daniel Titius. He located planets by using a law called Titius-Bode Law.

 Ceres is the biggest asteroid. Since all asteroids have different periods of rotation we’ve selected Ceres.  Rotational period: hours

 The asteroids are varied in their composition. Most are made of rock, but some are composed of metals and other materials.

 Ceres was discovered in January of  It was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.