The materials found in the minor planets are similar to those of the major planets.
Most meteorites found on Earth are asteroids, composed of the same rocky-metallic materials as planets.
Their existence supports eighteenth-century astronomer Johann Titius’s theory that there should have been another major planet.
Titius developed a remarkably accurate mathematical calculation to explain the spacing between the planets, except that there was one planet missing, right where the asteroid belt is located.
Trojan asteroids, which reside in Jupiter’s orbit rather than the asteroid belt, are made of the same stuff as Jupiter.
They probably were created by pieces of Jupiter’s core breaking off during formative collisions.
