Is the cluster of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter two dimensional as seen in every model of solar system shown in books or television? Or is it three dimensional as i think it should be?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
1
asked Jan 24, 2014 at 9:35
-
1$\begingroup$ I also discuss this in my answer to How do spacecraft navigate through the Asteroid belt to avoid collision? on Space Exploration, if you're interested. For statistical purposes, it would probably be easiest defined as a toroid, not a disc. ;) $\endgroup$– TildalWaveJan 24, 2014 at 15:52
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
Many models shown in books or television show a very populated asteroid belt but in fact the belt is mostly empty.
To answer your question, the inclination of the asteroids vary a lot going from 0° to 40° although most off them are in between 0° and 30°; See The orbital element distributions of real and modelled asteroids. So yes it would be 3 dimensional.
answered Jan 24, 2014 at 11:18