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Lamonte Johnson
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I ask this because most asteroids seem to small for gravity to compress them into stony material. Does this mean they are pieces dislodged in larger body collisions?
Asteroids are formed through a process known as accretion, where dust and gas particles in the early solar system come together to form larger bodies. These bodies then collide and combine to form protoplanets, which eventually become planets. Some of the remaining pieces that did not form into planets are what we now know as asteroids.
Asteroids can be found throughout our solar system, but they are most concentrated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. They can also be found in other regions such as the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud.
Asteroids vary in size, with some being as small as a grain of sand and others being hundreds of kilometers in diameter. The largest known asteroid, Ceres, has a diameter of about 940 km.
Asteroids are made up of a variety of materials, primarily rock and metal. Some also contain ice and other frozen substances. The composition of an asteroid can vary greatly depending on where it formed in the solar system.
Yes, asteroids can and do collide with Earth. However, the likelihood of a large asteroid impacting Earth is very low. NASA and other space agencies actively track and study asteroids to better understand their movements and potential risks to Earth.