Also Not to Be Overlooked: . . . View PLANETS slide show The Observatory's old webpage »Photon« Java applet »Jovian Satellites« Java applet Minor Planet Center Link for Asteroid Orbits Other Points of Interest ASTEROID Encyclopædia Britannica Article also called minor planet, or planetoid, any of a host of small rocky bodies, about 1,000 km or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is because of their small size and large numbers relative to the nine major planets that asteroids are also called minor planets. The two designations are frequently used interchangeably, though dynamicists, astronomers who study individual objects with dynamically interesting orbits or groups of objects with similar orbital characteristics, generally use the term minor planet, whereas those who study the physical properties of such objects usually refer to them as asteroids. Select Asteroid to see animation: . . . Asteroid & Comet crossing 1988VX2 1990OB4 1997CB22 3045PL D10047 D16150 DN IAQ OB4 RQ36 T2 U1

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