<P> The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter . It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets . The asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near - Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids . About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids : Ceres , Vesta , Pallas , and Hygiea . The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4 % that of the Moon , or 22 % that of Pluto , and roughly twice that of Pluto 's moon Charon ( whose diameter is 1200 km ) . </P>
<P> The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter . It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets . The asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near - Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids . About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids : Ceres , Vesta , Pallas , and Hygiea . The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4 % that of the Moon , or 22 % that of Pluto , and roughly twice that of Pluto 's moon Charon ( whose diameter is 1200 km ) . </P>
a group of objects orbiting between mars and jupiter
a group of objects orbiting between mars and jupiter
The asteroid belt
The asteroid belt