asteroidë

Asteroidë are small rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The term is used in Albanian-language sources for asteroids, though internationally the English term asteroid is standard.

Sizes vary widely: bodies can be tens of meters across to hundreds of kilometers. Collectively they contain a small fraction of Earth's mass, but they preserve clues about the early Solar System. Most are irregular in shape and surface features reveal history of collisions and space weathering. Spectral studies classify many asteroidë as C-type (carbonaceous), S-type (silicaceous), or M-type (metallic), among others.

Orbits are mostly in the main belt with low eccentricities, but resonances with Jupiter create gaps known as Kirkwood gaps. Some asteroidë cross Earth's orbit and are called near-Earth asteroids; a subset are potentially hazardous. A group share orbits with planets, notably Trojan asteroids that accompany Jupiter and other planets.

Exploration has advanced knowledge: NASA's Dawn mission studied Vesta and Ceres; JAXA's Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 returned samples from Itokawa and Ryugu; OSIRIS-REx collected samples from Bennu; future missions plan to retrieve material from various types.

Origin and significance: formed from the protoplanetary disk, most became the main belt remnants after planet formation. Studying asteroidë informs models of planetary formation, solar system evolution, and may offer resources for future space activities.