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main-belt asteroid
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Graph showing the distribution of asteroids in the solar system by distance from the Sun, with peaks representing concentrations in the main belt and gaps at certain orbital resonances with Jupiter. Colored lines below indicate the percentage of major asteroid classes-E, S, M, C, and P-at various distances. Mars and Jupiter are marked at 1.5 and 5.2 AU, respectively.
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main-belt asteroid

astronomy
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Graph showing the distribution of asteroids in the solar system by distance from the Sun, with peaks representing concentrations in the main belt and gaps at certain orbital resonances with Jupiter. Colored lines below indicate the percentage of major asteroid classes-E, S, M, C, and P-at various distances. Mars and Jupiter are marked at 1.5 and 5.2 AU, respectively.
asteroid distribution between Mars and Jupiter Asteroid distribution between Mars and Jupiter. (Top) Numbers of asteroids from a total of more than 69,500 with known orbits are plotted against their mean distances from the Sun. Major depletions, or gaps, of asteroids occur near the mean-motion resonances with Jupiter between 4:1 and 2:1 (labeled in orange), whereas asteroid concentrations are found near other resonances (in yellow). The distribution does not indicate true relative numbers, because nearer and brighter asteroids are favoured for discovery. In reality, for any given size range, three to four times as many asteroids lie between the 3:1 and 2:1 resonances as between the 4:1 and 3:1 resonances. (Bottom) Relative percentages of six major asteroid classes are plotted against their mean distances. At a given mean distance, the percentages of the classes present total 100 percent. As the graph reveals, the distribution of the asteroid classes is highly structured, with the different classes forming overlapping rings around the Sun.

Main-belt asteroids are rocky bodies found in the asteroid belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids are remnants from the formation of the solar system and are classified based on their spectral reflectivity and albedo, which indicate their surface composition.12

Asteroid families are groups of asteroids formed when a larger asteroid is shattered by a collision. About 40% of larger asteroids belong to these families, which are compositionally homogeneous, meaning their members share a similar chemical makeup. Some of these fragments are believed to be the source of meteorites that reach Earth.1

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. asteroid - Main-belt asteroid families
  2. asteroid - Composition
  3. asteroid - Later advances
  4. small body

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