The main belt is carved by empty rings: almost nothing survives at 2.50 or 3.27 AU, where orbital periods lock into whole-number ratios with Jupiter and repeated kicks pump eccentricity until the body is flung out. The 3:1 Kirkwood gap is the clearest scar of resonance, while the Trojan swarms ride steadily 60 degrees ahead of and behind Jupiter. Farther out lies the icy Kuiper Belt, then the spherical Oort shell wrapping the whole system.
The main belt is carved by empty rings: almost nothing survives at 2.50 or 3.27 AU, where orbital periods lock into whole-number ratios with Jupiter and repeated kicks pump eccentricity until the body is flung out. The 3:1 Kirkwood gap is the clearest scar of resonance, while the Trojan swarms ride steadily 60 degrees ahead of and behind Jupiter. Farther out lies the icy Kuiper Belt, then the spherical Oort shell wrapping the whole system.
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