Gembloux (Belgium): The majority of known asteroids orbit inside the main asteroid belt, which is positioned between Mars and Jupiter at an average distance of around 250 million km from Earth. Since the discovery of the first asteroid in 1801, about 750.000 asteroids have been identified, primarily in the last decade thanks to several optical surveys that examine the sky on clear nights.
Majority of asteroids
The majority of these asteroids are larger than one kilometre in diameter, with the largest, Vesta, being roughly 530 km, and millions of smaller ones are expected. While they appear to be massive figures, the total mass of all asteroids combined is less than that of the Earth's Moon.
