Why do some asteroids travel at a phenomenon speed?

The average orbital velocity of asteroids is 25 kilometers per second that translates to 90,000 kilometers per hour.

Some asteroids orbit closer to the sun and these move a little faster up to 30 kilometers per hour than the ones orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and beyond. (Orbital velocity reduces as the distance from the Sun increases).

Sometimes asteroids approach Earth and since all asteroids orbit the Sun in the same direction as the earth does, they are very slow because the net velocity would be the asteroid’s velocity minus Earth’s orbital velocity.

However, when an asteroid approaches earth, it is accelerated by the earth’s gravitational pull and when it enters Earth’s atmosphere, various factors such as its shape and size determine its speed, because as it ploughs through the atmosphere, there is resistance by the air in the atmosphere.

For example, a small odd-shaped asteroid will fall slower through the air than a spherical asteroid. Here are some well known asteroids with their orbital velocities

Asteroid 433 Eros is an odd-shaped near-Earth asteroid found in the main asteroid belt, has an average orbital velocity of 24.360 kilometers per second.

Asteroid Ceres is the largest object that orbits in the asteroid belt and has an average orbital speed of 17.822 kilometers per second.

Asteroid 951 Gaspra also found in the main asteroid belt has an orbital velocity of 19.88 kilometers per second.

Asteroid Vesta is the second largest object in the main asteroid belt, with an average orbital velocity of 19.34 kilometers per second.

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