Asteroid

Asteroids were a class of celestial bodies too small to be made spherical by their own gravity, and thus often had arbitrary shapes similar to smaller rocks that existed on planets. By definition, asteroids were primarily made of rock, with similar objects made of ice being termed comets, and those made of a mixture of ice and rock being termed centaurs.
== Properties ==
Asteroids were formed in the same way as planets, through accretion of dust in a protoplanetary disk. Unlike planets and dwarf planets, asteroids did not have sufficient mass or gravity to morph into a spherical shape. 
Thus, they had irregular shapes. Asteroids were made of rocky, metallic and silicate minerals. They did not contain significant quantities of ice. Objects which did contain ice were termed centaurs or comets.
Asteroids had a maximum mass of around 0.0001 SPM. Objects larger than this were usually made spherical by their own gravity and termed dwarf planets. Asteroids smaller than around 1000 tonnes were usually termed meteoroids. Due to their low mass, their gravity was very small. Many beings found it was possible to escape the gravity of an asteroid simply by jumping. However, some asteroids had gravity strong enough to be noticeable.
Asteroids were incredibly common, with many millions of them existing in most star systems. Often, asteroids existed in vast groups that were known as asteroid fields or asteroid belts. They could also be found in planetary orbits as moons or ring systems. Asteroids orbits were often disrupted by the gravity of planets, and could often be sent into chaotic elliptical orbits. Occasionally, asteroids collided with planets, often with disastrous consequences.
== History ==
A large asteroid struck the planet Vinsoth in around 3,000,000 BBY, wiping out most large lifeforms on that planet. Surviving species evolved into the Chevin.
Asteroids were used by some civilizations to house facilities such as the Polis Massa medical facility, of military installations such as the Imperial Maw Installation or the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force base in the Crustai system.
Category:Articles by Vractomorph
Category:Types of Astronomical Object