Author Question: What do astronomers mean when they refer to gaps in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter? ... (Read 56 times)

sammy · **on:** Jul 27, 2018

What do astronomers mean when they refer to gaps in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter?

A) There is a large population of asteroids too faint to see called the gap asteroids.
B) Asteroids seem to avoid certain orbits around the Sun, creating gaps in the orbits that asteroids can have.
C) Asteroids typically cluster together and this creates gaps on the sky.
D) There are either pure metal or pure rock asteroids, but no mixtures. Thus there is a gap in the composition of asteroids.
E) There are very few asteroids with diameters between 1 and 100 kilometers, creating a gap in the size distribution.

Question 2

According to Newton's third law, the Voyager probes pulled just as hard on Jupiter as it did on them when they flew past it. Why were they accelerated enough to leave the solar system but Jupiter still is in orbit about the Sun?

What will be an ideal response?

zoeyesther · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 27, 2018

Answer to Question 1

B

Answer to Question 2

Jupiter was much more massive than the Voyagers, so by the second law, they slowed Jupiter down a tiny bit, but it accelerated the probes so much they escaped the gravity of the Sun itself.