Most of the asteroids have this irregular appearance, with the exception of the largest that have a spherical shape. The asteroids in the main belt are, for now, the most numerous.
These are not the remaining of a planet: they were unable to agglomerate to form one object and their total mass is much lower than that of a planet: it reaches the twentieth of the mass of the Moon.
Below is the characteristics of some asteroids chosen among the largest and also those whose images are shown during our tour of the solar system (click the link).
Number |
Name |
Size en km |
Semi-major axis en UA |
Eccentricity |
Inclination |
Period in days |
Chemical class |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ceres | 940 | 2.7678 | 0.0774 | 11° | 1682 | C |
2 | Pallas | 538 | 2.7739 | 0.2323 | 35° | 1687 | C |
3 | Juno | 244 | 2.6695 | 0.2577 | 13° | 1593 | S |
4 | Vesta | 576 | 2.3607 | 0.0903 | 7° | 1324 | ? |
5 | Astrea | 125 | 2.5759 | 0.1915 | 5° | 1510 | S |
6 | Hebe | 192 | 2.4248 | 0.2018 | 15° | 1379 | S |
7 | Iris | 203 | 2.3849 | 0.2306 | 6° | 1345 | S |
8 | Flore | 141 | 2.2013 | 0.1561 | 6° | 1192 | S |
9 | Metis | 168 | 2.3864 | 0.1211 | 6° | 1347 | S |
10 | Hygiea | 429 | 3.1362 | 0.1199 | 4° | 2029 | C |
45 | Eugenia | 130 | 2.7204 | 0.0830 | 7° | 1663 | C |
146 | Lucina | 140 | 2.7190 | 0.0660 | 13° | 1661 | C |
216 | Kleopatra | 217x97 | 2.7917 | 0.2534 | 13° | 1702 | M |
243 | Ida | 56x24 | 2.8619 | 0.0450 | 1° | 1768 | S |
253 | Mathilde | 59x47 | 2.6473 | 0.2654 | 7° | 1596 | ? |
324 | Bamberga | 242 | 2.6855 | 0.3374 | 11° | 1607 | C |
377 | Campania | 60 | 2.6914 | 0.0778 | 7° | 1636 | ? |
951 | Gaspra | 20x12 | 2.2092 | 0.1737 | 4° | 1199 | ? |
3939 | Huruhata | 20 | 3.1214 | 0.0938 | 25° | 2043 | ? |
40747 | 1999 TK5 | 7 | 2.5540 | 0.2117 | 12° | 1513 | ? |
To know the circumstances of the discovery of asteroids, click here.