Illustration of Asteroid Belts

Extended Description

This simplified, square illustration has a medium-blue background dotted with white stars shown in various sizes, most as pinpricks. 

Starting from the center and moving outward: At the very center is the Sun, which is slightly larger and yellow. Large thin, white circles trace the orbits of planets and asteroids that orbit the Sun.

A total of five planets are depicted and labeled in white, and follow white circular orbits. Mercury is the closest to the Sun, followed by Venus, Earth, and Mars. All of the planets’ dots are approximately the same size as the Sun, which are not to scale.

A wide, open circle with a lighter blue interior appears just outside the orbits of those four planets. This is labeled “Main Asteroid Belt.” It has dark blue dots throughout, some similar in size to the Sun and planets, and others smaller.

Outside this region, the same medium-blue background dotted with white stars appears again. A thin, white circle representing Jupiter’s orbit appears toward the edges of the graphic. The label “Jupiter” appears next to a white circle that represents the planet at the top of the graphic. This dot is the same size as the other planets. 

To the right and left of Jupiter’s orbit are yellow banana-shaped regions with blue dots. The yellow regions appear only toward the top left and top right. They are labeled “Trojan Asteroids.” The blue dots within these yellow areas are slightly smaller than the largest dots in the Main Asteroid Belt.

Image Alt Text

A square illustration of our solar system from above, with the Sun at the center, out to the orbit of Jupiter.