42 biggest asteroids in our solar system identified; Here's a look at their names & sizes

Asteroids come in all shapes and sizes. This theory has been proven by astronomers who have identified the 42 biggest asteroids lingering in our solar system. Located using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope based in Chile, the asteroids reside in the asteroid belt that is between the planets Mars and Jupiter. 

Asteroid-diametre ranges from 274 kilometers to 940 kilometres

Compiled by an international team of astronomers, the European Southern Observatory said that the detailed images of these 42 objects are a leap forward in exploring asteroids which were made possible by ground-based telescopes that are contributing to answering the ultimate question of life, the Universe, and everything. 

The observatory explained that most of the 42 objects in their sample are larger than 100 km in size. In particular, the team while imaging 23 asteroids in the asteroid belt found that 20 of them were larger than 200 kilometres in size. The two biggest objects the team probed were Ceres and Vesta, which are around 940 and 520 kilometres in diameter, whereas the two smallest asteroids are Urania and Ausonia, each only about 90 kilometres, said the ESO. 

Published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, lead author of the study and an astronomer from France’s Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille said, “Only three large main-belt asteroids, Ceres, Vesta and Lutetia, have been imaged with a high level of detail so far, as they were visited by the space missions Dawn and Rosetta of NASA and the European Space Agency, respectively”. 

In the image, Ceres can be seen as the biggest asteroid with a diameter of 940 kilometers, followed by an uneven-shaped Vesta measuring at 520 kilometers. The compiled image also consists of the asteroid Kleopatra, which came to light last month and got famous for its dog bone structure. In contrast, the asteroids Flora and Adeona, at 146 and 144 kilometers respectively, exhibit a well-rounded shape. 

Astronomers also reflected on the densities of these asteroids saying the densities change significantly across the sample.  The four least dense asteroids studied, including Lamberta and Sylvia, have densities of about 1.3 grams per cubic centimetre, which is nearly equal to that of coal. On the other hand, Psyche and Kalliope have the highest densities of 3.9 and 4.4 grams per cubic centimetre, respectively, which is even greater than the density of diamond. As per the observatory, this difference in density suggests the asteroids’ composition varies significantly, giving astronomers important clues about their origin.

Image: Twitter/@ESO