Known asteroids of the main belt, by the size of their orbit

Name: Known asteroids of the main belt, by the size of their orbit
Creator: Unlabeled
License: No licence stated for the database; counts only, no row copied. Credit as JPL asks for its public material: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

93% of the 1.57 million known asteroids orbit here. The gap at 2.50 AU is where an asteroid would circle the Sun exactly three times for each lap of Jupiter: the giant's repeated tugs clear it out.

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y ↑: Asteroids (thousands)
x →: Orbit size, semi-major axis (AU)

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The data: 37 points

Orbit size, semi-major axis (AU)	Asteroids (thousands)
2.02	1.8
2.06	1
2.1	1.8
2.14	7.9
2.18	22.4
2.22	37
2.26	48.4
2.3	61.7
2.34	71.2
2.38	70.9
2.42	55.4
2.46	31.4
2.5	9.1
2.54	59.1
2.58	88.5
2.62	88.2
2.66	82.9
2.7	69.5
2.74	72.9
2.78	63.2
2.82	21
2.86	27.6
2.9	21.7
2.94	17.1
2.98	40.8
3.02	51.3
3.06	68.7
3.1	78.1
3.14	82.4
3.18	73
3.22	29.3
3.26	4.8
3.3	0.8
3.34	1.4
3.38	1.8
3.42	1.9
3.46	1

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech, JPL Small-Body Database; counts by orbit size calculated by Unlabeled
Licence: No licence stated for the database; counts only, no row copied. Credit as JPL asks for its public material: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
Read: 2026-10-05
Drawn: 37 points as the puzzle showed them · bar

Ran in puzzle #14 on October 10, 2026. Play it

Known asteroids of the main belt, by the size of their orbit

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