The Asteroid Belt and Jupiter

                  The Asteroid Belt and Jupiter
     The asteroid belt is like a belt of asteroids... It's literally like that. It's placement in the solar system is after Mars and before Jupiter. It's the division line from terrestrial planets to the extraterrestrial   planets. Astronomers had a theory that there was a ninth planet that wanted to form in between Mars and Jupiter. Because of Jupiter's strong gravitational pull, it couldn't form and it shattered. The bits of cosmic dust from the ninth planet formed into asteroids, rocky and irregularly shaped objects. Astronomers think that this event happened 4.6 billion years ago. 

     Jupiter is the fifth planet from our sun and it's an extraterrestrial   planet. (It's also a Jovian which also means that Jupiter is an outer planet.) Jupiter is a gas giant meaning that it's surface and/or insides are made out of gases. This planets gases contains of mostly  hydrogen. Because of Jupiter's rapid spinning, its surface contains a  ton of hurricanes and storms. The Great Red Spot is a huge storm  on Jupiter. This planet has a thin ring that has a magnetic field. Jupiter has 67 moons. Galileo discovered four of the largest moons of Jupiter with his invention, the telescope. They were named  Galilean moons. Ganymede was the largest of the four moons and its diameter is even bigger than Mercury. Jupiter is 778,500,000 km away from the sun.