OtterKnow Kids EncyclopediaAsteroids are big rocks that float through space and orbit around the Sun. They are much smaller than planets, but some of them are still really big. Most asteroids hang out in a region called the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids are leftovers from when our solar system was first formed over four billion years ago. They come in many shapes and sizes. Some are round, and some are bumpy and lumpy. Scientists send spacecraft to visit asteroids so they can learn more about how our solar system was born.
- The biggest asteroid is called Ceres, and it is so big that scientists call it a dwarf planet.
- An asteroid crashing into Earth may have caused the dinosaurs to go extinct millions of years ago.
- Some asteroids even have their own tiny moons orbiting around them!
