What Is an Asteroid? The Short Answer: Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun-like planets, they are much smaller than planets. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. A close-up image of the asteroid Ida taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA There are lots of asteroids in our solar system. Most of them live in the main asteroid belt —a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Most asteroids in our solar system can be found in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids hang out in other places, too. For example, some asteroids are found in the orbital path of planets. This means that the asteroid and the planet follow the same path around the sun. Earth and a few other planets have asteroids like this. Where did asteroids come ...
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