What is the average speed of an asteroid?

Answer 1

The asteroid belt [See Link] is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Contrary to popular belief (helped by Hollywood and computer game manufacturers), the asteroid belt is mostly empty. The asteroids are spread over such a large area that it would be highly improbable to reach an asteroid without careful aiming.

The asteroid belt includes the dwarf planet Ceres [See Link].

It's impossible to give a precise distance, as the belt starts around the orbit of Mars [See Link] and continues up to Jupiter's. However the centre of the belt is approximately 2.7 AU (404 million km (251 million miles)) from the Sun.

Answer 2

The temperature of the asteroid belt varies. It can range from something on the order of 200 K (−73 °C) near the inner edge (about 2.2 AU) down to 165 K (−108 °C) near the outer edge (about 3.2 AU. Links can be found below for more information.

Answer 3

The asteroid belt [See Link] is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Contrary to popular belief (helped by Hollywood and computer game manufacturers), the asteroid belt is mostly empty. The asteroids are spread over such a large area that it would be highly improbable to reach an asteroid without careful aiming.

The asteroid belt includes the dwarf planet Ceres [See Link].

It's impossible to give a precise distance, as the belt starts around the orbit of Mars [See Link] and continues up to Jupiter's. However the centre of the belt is approximately 2.7 AU (404 million km (251 million miles)) from the Sun.

Answer 4

The average speed of an asteroid can vary widely depending on its distance from the sun and its orbital path. On average, asteroids in our solar system can travel anywhere from 12,000 to 25,000 miles per hour (19,000 to 40,000 kilometers per hour). However, some asteroids can reach speeds of up to 164,000 miles per hour (264,000 kilometers per hour) during close passes to Earth.

Answer 5

The temperature of an asteroid would be dependent on where it is in its orbit, but generally "pretty darned cold!" would be an accurate description. The majority of the asteroids appear to be in the "asteroid belt" between Mars and Jupiter, which is pretty far out from the Sun; about 3AU, or 3 times farther from the Sun than the Earth is.

There are "Apollo" asteroids, which orbit closer to the Sun than the Earth does; those may be somewhat warmer. But no asteroid is massive enough to keep an atmosphere, so all of the heat from sunlight would be radiated off into space pretty quickly. None are big enough to have a hot core like the Earth does.

Answer 6

Asteroids closer to the Sun will be hotter, further away from the Sun they will be colder. There should also be differences between the day and the night side. Having no atmosphere, its average temperature should be quite a bit colder than that of a planet (that is, one with an atmosphere) at the same distance from the Sun.

Answer 7

There are millions of asteroids, each in its own orbit. (Although they do collide, sometimes.) The majority of the asteroids are in the "asteroid belt", a broad area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But there are many asteroids outside that range, including some that sometimes come fairly close to the Earth.
Just picking a random one: 4,650,000 miles.

Answer 8

Asteroids closer to the Sun will be hotter, further away from the Sun they will be colder. There should also be differences between the day and the night side. Having no atmosphere, its average temperature should be quite a bit colder than that of a planet (that is, one with an atmosphere) at the same distance from the Sun.

Asteroids closer to the Sun will be hotter, further away from the Sun they will be colder. There should also be differences between the day and the night side. Having no atmosphere, its average temperature should be quite a bit colder than that of a planet (that is, one with an atmosphere) at the same distance from the Sun.

Asteroids closer to the Sun will be hotter, further away from the Sun they will be colder. There should also be differences between the day and the night side. Having no atmosphere, its average temperature should be quite a bit colder than that of a planet (that is, one with an atmosphere) at the same distance from the Sun.

Asteroids closer to the Sun will be hotter, further away from the Sun they will be colder. There should also be differences between the day and the night side. Having no atmosphere, its average temperature should be quite a bit colder than that of a planet (that is, one with an atmosphere) at the same distance from the Sun.

Answer 9

"Near earth" asteroids have an orbit that will bring them closer to the sun than most asteroids. When closest, the sunlit side will get quite hot, the side away from the sun will still be as cold as the surrounding vacuum. Main belt asteroids will have a side facing the sun at any given moment that will be warmer than the side away from the sun, but either way, the temperature will be very, very cold.

Answer 10

Every asteroid is different, of course, because of the differing sizes and orbits and compositions. But the "average" asteroid in the asteroid belt is probably in the -150C range.