Orbital and dynamical characteristics of small bodies in the region of inner planets

Abstract

In addition to the planets, there are numerous smaller objects orbiting around the Sun as well. These objects exhibit a wide range of sizes, from dust grains to dwarf planets. The minor objects, larger than about 1 meter in diameter, orbiting the Sun interior to Saturn's orbit are called asteroids. Asteroids occupy a wide variety of orbits, but most of them are located in the so-called main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Apart from this, there are also other large groups of asteroids such as near-Earth asteroids, Hilda group and Jupiter's Trojans. Moreover, several thousands of planet-crossing asteroids, with perihelia inside the orbits of the inner planets, are known as well.