asteroid (minor planet, planetoid)

asteroid (minor planet, planetoid)

Also called planetoids or minor planets, the asteroids are tiny planets most of which orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The largest - and the first discovered - is Ceres, with a diameter of 1,003 km. It is estimated that there may altogether be no fewer than 40000. A few have very elliptical orbits and cross the orbits of several other (major) planets. One or two even have their own satellites (moons.)

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Part of Speech: noun
Synonym(s): atmosphere_₁₀
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Industry/Domain: Astronomy
Category: General astronomy
Company: Caltech
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