Today(Editor’s Note: June 30) is International Asteroid Day!
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is more than one million!
Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Asteroids range in size from Vesta – the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across. The total mass of all the asteroids combined is less than that of Earth’s Moon.
This image is an artist’s illustration of our solar system’s asteroid belt.
Image Credit: NASA/McREL
6月30日是国际小行星日！
小行星是大约46亿年前太阳系早期形成时遗留下来的岩石残留物。目前已知的小行星数量超过100万颗!
人们可以在主要的小行星带中发现大部分古代太空碎片，它们在火星和木星之间围绕太阳运行。小行星的大小不一，从灶神星(最大的直径约为329英里(530公里))到直径小于33英尺(10米)的天体。所有小行星的总质量加起来比地球的月球还小。
这张图片是太阳系小行星带的艺术家插图。
图片来源：NASA/McREL
