Why the asteroid belt is a cosmic graveyard of failed planets
In short: The Main Asteroid Belt isn't a dense obstacle course like in the movies; it is a vast, empty orbital limbo. This video explains why a planet failed to form between Mars and Jupiter 4.5 billion years ago.
About 4.5 billion years ago, the early Solar System experienced a gravitational disruption between Mars and Jupiter. Instead of a single large planet forming in the space between them, the region became home to thousands of wandering cosmic rocks. These range in size from tiny pebbles to massive mountains.
Despite popular science fiction depictions of a crowded cosmic obstacle course, the belt is mostly void. Without getting close to a particularly large asteroid, an observer would see primarily stars, darkness, and a few moving points of light.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Natural Boundary Between Rocky Planets And Gas Giants
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