Asteroids of the Solar System Trivia Quiz

Answer: C-type (carbon-rich)

The C-type asteroid is the most common type with about 75% of asteroids being carbon-rich. About 17% of asteroids are S-type (silicate-rich) and the remaining 8% are mostly M-type (metal-rich). Asteroids are traditionally classified as objects orbiting the Sun that do not have a planetary disc and do not share characteristics with comets.

Answer: Asteroid Belt

An AU is defined as the distance from the Earth to the Sun and is equal to 150 million kilometers, or 93 million miles. On average, the planet Mars is located about 1.5 AU from the Sun and Jupiter is located about 5.2 AU. Rather than being a crowded area of asteroids, the asteroid belt is primarily empty due to its enormous size.

The total mass of asteroids within the asteroid belt is about 4% of the mass of the Moon.

Answer: Eris

Eris is a dwarf planet that was discovered in 2005. It is located well beyond the orbit of Neptune and its distance varies from 38 AU to 98 AU. The largest asteroid, Ceres, comprises one third of the total mass of the asteroid belt and its diameter is 950 kilometers. Vesta is estimated to comprise 9% of the mass of the asteroid belt whereas Pallas comprises 7%.

Answer: Hygiea

Of the four largest asteroids, Hygiea has the outermost orbit at 3.14 AU and it lies closest to the plane of the ecliptic. Hygiea is the largest C-type (carbon-rich) asteroid with a mass of about 2.9% of the whole asteroid belt. With a revolution being completed every 27 hours 37 minutes Hygiea rotates much more slowly than the other large asteroids which complete revolutions between six and 12 hours.

Answer: Europa

The asteroid 52 Europa is a C-type (carbon-rich) and it has a diameter of about 315 kilometers. Compared to other large asteroids it is much less dense and it is estimated to be only the 12th largest asteroid by mass. Europa orbits near the edge of the asteroid belt at approximately 3.1 AU.

Answer: Daniel Kirkwood

Kirkwood gaps are located in areas where the mean orbital period of an asteroid is an integer fraction of the orbital period of Jupiter. Incredibly, the impact of Jupiter on the asteroids will cause their orbits to change over time. In addition to his observations of asteroids, Kirkwood also studied divisions in Saturn's rings that he believed were caused by variables similar to Kirkwood gaps.

Answer: Jupiter Trojans

Interestingly, many of the larger Jupiter Trojans are named after figures from the Trojan War such as 588 Achilles, 624 Hector, and 911 Agamemnon. Jupiter Trojans are also called Trojan asteroids and there are estimated to be about one million of them over one kilometer in diameter.

Answer: Near-Earth Asteroids

The Atiras asteroids orbit entirely inside Earth's orbit whereas Atens and Apollos asteroids cross Earth's orbit. Amors asteroids orbit outside Earth's orbit and often cross the orbit of Mars. There are estimated to be about 1,000 Near-Earth asteroids over one kilometer in diameter.

Answer: NEAR Shoemaker

The NEAR Shoemaker probe transmitted data from the surface of 433 Eros for 16 days in 2001. The extreme temperature on 433 Eros at the time was -173°C which likely caused the probe to malfunction. The probe was named after Eugene Shoemaker who co-discovered the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 which provided scientists the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision.

The estimated release of energy from the impact was equivalent to six million megatons of TNT.

Answer: Dawn

The total cost of the mission to send Dawn into the orbits of Vesta and Ceres was estimated at $446 million. The Dawn probe was the first NASA mission to use ion propulsion which allowed it to enter the orbits of multiple bodies of the Solar System. The focus of the Dawn mission was to gain information about planetary evolution shortly after the formation of the Solar System.