THE ASTEROID belt isn't as clogged as I thought it was. Don't get me wrong - there's plenty of debris floating around out here, but a Swiffer dry mop could handle most of it.
Back in Mars orbit, I thought I was in for one noisy, sleepless trek across the main belt. Fact is, I've learned that more than half the belt's mass is held by just four objects: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas & Hygiea. That means starships like the Flybrary actually have a pretty healthy bit of clear space through which to draw a line.
Hygiea, Vesta & Pallas are all asteroids; Vesta & Pallas are thought to be the remnants of protoplanets. Ceres is the biggest of them all but is still only classified as a dwarf planet. Fun fact: it holds the unique distinction of being the only dwarf planet in its 'hood (the rest are Pluto's chums).
Still, when I look at all the bits and bobs floating about out there, I can't help but see the asteroid belt as the planet-that-could-have-been. Ceres was well on its way to becoming a very nice planet but I guess it just couldn't man up to the task. It's a damned shame, is what it is.
You know what? It really isn't Ceres' fault; when the planets were forming, that bossy know-it-all Jupiter used its gravity to get all the planetesimals riled up. They were so perturbed, in fact, that instead of shaking hands with one another in a gentlemanly fashion, they smacked each other willy-nilly like a cosmic mosh pit. Instead of coming to civil merger agreements, they shattered each other to bits.
When I finally land on the Homesphære, I hope they're nice to me. I'd much rather we all get along & end up as a nice Earth-like planet than savage each other & all end up a bunch of cold planet-wannabe space junk.
Anyways!! We'll see what kind of sleep I get tonight & then it's onwards & outwards to Jupiter!
It's fun to think that the asteroid belt could have been another planet at one time!! There is so much out there that never made it on to the map of the Solar System I learned in elementary school!
ReplyDeleteYeah - my elementary school education is getting its butt kicked out here!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the drawings! They really depict what's going on.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS, Ms Pelto! They're pretty terrible but that's all the data streams can handle.
ReplyDeleteAlright, they can probably handle more, but I can't. I can barely draw a straight line!