Kirkwood gaps (redirected from Kirkwood gap)

Kirkwood gaps, regions in the asteroid belt within which few asteroids are found. Astronomer Daniel Kirkwood first observed (1886) that few asteroids had an orbital period close to 1-2, 1-3, or 2-5 that of Jupiter. The gaps could have been formed by collisions between asteroids; however, the most widely accepted theory is that the gaps were formed by gravitational interactions with Jupiter, which over time would move any small body into another orbit.

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Kirkwood gaps

Interruptions in the distribution of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that appear where any of these small bodies' orbital periods would be a simple fraction of Jupiter's. Several zones of low density in the asteroid belt were noticed about 1860 by Daniel Kirkwood (1814–95), who explained the gaps as resulting from perturbations by Jupiter. Any object that revolved in one of these locations would be disturbed regularly by the planet's gravitational pull and eventually be moved to another orbit.

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Kirkwood gaps [′kərk‚wu̇d ‚gaps]

(astronomy)

Regions in the main zone of asteroids where almost no asteroids are found.