What is Kirkwood gap?
[[File:Kirkwood Gaps.png|thumb|right|350px|Kirkwood gaps]] '''Kirkwood gaps''' are areas of the [[asteroid belt]] where asteroids are unusually scarce, as seen in the [[:Image:Kirkwood Gaps.png|graph on the right]]. They are caused by [[orbital resonance]]s with [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]]. The gaps were first noticed in 1857 by [[Daniel Kirkwood]], who also correctly explained their origin in the orbital resonances with Jupiter while a professor at [[Washington & Jefferson College|Jefferson College]] in [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite book| last =Coleman | first =Helen Turnbull Waite| title = Banners in the Wilderness: The Early Years of Washington and Jefferson College| publisher = University of Pittsburgh Press| year= 1956| url = https://archive.org/details/bannersinthewild012852mbp| oclc = 2191890|page=158}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} == Other websites == * [http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/KirkwoodGaps.html Article on Kirkwood gaps at Wolfram's] scienceworld * [http://www.physics.udel.edu/~jim/solarsystem/Motion%20of%20an%20asteroid.htm A method to create a short-term simulation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210012/http://www.physics.udel.edu/~jim/solarsystem/Motion%20of%20an%20asteroid.htm |date=2011-07-16 }}. {{Sci-stub}} [[Category:Asteroids]] [[Category:Jupiter]]