Not a fact anymore
The asteroid belt is the debris of a planet that exploded.
What we know now
Most asteroid-belt material is leftover planet-building material that never assembled into a full planet, largely because Jupiter's gravity disrupted accretion.
Why it changed
The gap between Mars and Jupiter and the discovery of many small bodies encouraged the destroyed-planet hypothesis. Their combined low mass, varied compositions, orbital dynamics, and formation models instead point to incomplete planet formation and later collisional evolution.
- Status
- Superseded
- Category
- Planetary Science
- Accepted for
- ≈101 years
- Accepted approximately
- 19th–early 20th century
- Changed approximately
- Mid-20th century–present