The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
The Asteroids
The Asteroids (Greek, asteroids, "starlike"), also
known as the minor planets or planetoids, constitute a
group of bodies ranging from about 470 miles to a
mile or two in diameter that revolve about the Sun in
orbits that occur, in general, between those of Mars
and Jupiter. It has long been known that the distance
between Mars and Jupiter is proportionally larger than
for any other two planets and Kepler even suggested
that a planet might be found in this region of the solar
system. The first asteroid was sighted in this region in
1801 (Ceres) and by 1807 three others were known
(Pallas, Juno and Vesta). As of 1972 there were 1779
minor planets with determined orbits and an
estimated 50,000 asteroids probably exist.
The great majority of the asteroids move in orbits
within a range of 2.1 to 3.5 astronomical units from
the Sun and the orbital periods vary, in general,
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