SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Asteroids come in many sizes from as small as a few feet across to several hundred miles, and can be made up of different materials: 75 percent are carbon-based, 17 percent are silicon-based and 8 percent are miscellaneous but mostly metallic.

Detailed explanation-2: -The majority of asteroids fall into the following three categories: C-type (carbonaceous): Includes more than 75 percent of known asteroids. Very dark with an albedo of 0.03-0.09. Composition is thought to be similar to the Sun, depleted in hydrogen, helium, and other volatiles.

Detailed explanation-3: -Although more than 75% of the known asteroids are in the belt, they are not closely spaced (as they are sometimes depicted in science fiction movies). The volume of the belt is actually very large, and the typical spacing between objects (down to 1 kilometer in size) is several million kilometers.

Detailed explanation-4: -Asteroids are made mostly of rock-with some composed of clay and silicate-and different metals, mostly nickel and iron.

Detailed explanation-5: -More than 75% are C-type asteroids which are dark and reddish with an albedo less than 0.10. They are similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and exhibit about the same chemical composition as the sun minus its volatiles. About 17% are S-type asteroids, which are brighter, with an albedo of 0.10 to 0.22.

Detailed explanation-6: -At the outer edges of the asteroid belt, that is between three and three and a half times further from the Sun than the Earth, over eighty percent of the asteroids are known as C-type. The C stands for carbon and the surfaces of these asteroids are almost coal-black.