<P> There are millions of asteroids , many thought to be the shattered remnants of planetesimals , bodies within the young Sun 's solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets . The large majority of known asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter , or are co-orbital with Jupiter ( the Jupiter trojans ) . However , other orbital families exist with significant populations , including the near - Earth objects . Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra , with the majority falling into three main groups : C - type , M - type , and S - type . These were named after and are generally identified with carbon - rich , metallic , and silicate ( stony ) compositions , respectively . The size of asteroids varies greatly , the largest is almost 1,000 km ( 625 mi ) across . </P>
<P> There are millions of asteroids , many thought to be the shattered remnants of planetesimals , bodies within the young Sun 's solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets . The large majority of known asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter , or are co-orbital with Jupiter ( the Jupiter trojans ) . However , other orbital families exist with significant populations , including the near - Earth objects . Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra , with the majority falling into three main groups : C - type , M - type , and S - type . These were named after and are generally identified with carbon - rich , metallic , and silicate ( stony ) compositions , respectively . The size of asteroids varies greatly , the largest is almost 1,000 km ( 625 mi ) across . </P>
relatively small bodies which generally orbit the sun between mars and jupiter are called
relatively small bodies which generally orbit the sun between mars and jupiter are called
asteroids
asteroids