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Updated: Feb 22, 2026
09:44
Laboratory Drop Towers for the Experimental Simulation of Dust-aggregate Collisions in the Early Solar System
Published on: June 5, 2014
13.4K
The empty primordial asteroid belt.
Sean N Raymond1, Andre Izidoro1,2
1Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France.
Science Advances
|September 20, 2017
Summary
The asteroid belt may have formed empty, with planetesimals later migrating in from terrestrial and giant planet formation. This challenges previous assumptions of a massive, depleted asteroid belt.
Area of Science:
- Planetary Science
- Solar System Formation
- Asteroid Research
Background:
- The asteroid belt shows radial segregation of S-type (inner) and C-type (outer) asteroids.
- Current models assume the asteroid belt initially formed with substantial mass, which was later depleted.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the formation of the asteroid belt by testing the hypothesis that it formed empty.
- To determine if planetesimal implantation mechanisms can explain the observed composition and distribution of asteroids.
Main Methods:
- Simulations modeling planetesimal dynamics and gravitational scattering during planet formation.
- Analysis of mass distribution and radial segregation patterns within the asteroid belt.
Main Results:
- The present-day asteroid belt composition and distribution are consistent with an initially empty formation scenario.
- Terrestrial planet formation scattered planetesimals into the inner belt (S-types).
- Giant planet formation injected planetesimals into the outer belt (C-types).
Conclusions:
- The asteroid belt may have formed without planetesimals, acting as a repository for material from across the solar system.
- Implantation mechanisms are a natural consequence of terrestrial and giant planet formation.
- This challenges traditional models of asteroid belt formation and evolution.
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