The Riddle of the Asteroids
Too Long; Didn't Read
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter revolves the most remarkable system of little bodies with which we are acquainted—the Asteroids, or Minor Planets. Some six hundred are now known, and they may actually number thousands. They form virtually a ring about the sun. The most striking general fact about them is that they occupy the place in the sky which should be occupied, according to Bode’s Law, by a single large planet. This fact, as we shall see, has led to the invention of one of the most extraordinary theories in astronomy—viz., that of the explosion of a world!