Definition | the toroidal region of space around a star in which most asteroid orbits occur. |
OED requirements | antedating 1877 |
Earliest cite | The Manufacturer and Builder" |
Comment | Mike Christie submitted a 1932 cite from Clifford Simak's "The Asteroid of Gold", based on a suggestion from Brian Ameringen. Cory Panshin submitted a cite from a 1947 reprint of Manly Wade Wellman's "The Disc-Men of Jupiter"; Jeff Prucher verified the cite in the 1931 original magazine appearance. Bill Mullins submitted a cite from a science news column "Mechanical and Physical Astronomy" in
the journal "The Manufacturer and Builder" for March 1877.
(Earliest cite in the OED: 1939.) |
Last modified | 30 July, 2019 |
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1931 M. W. Wellman in Wonder Stories Sept. 533/2 | If it's so dangerous, why couldn't we fly over the asteroid belt? |
1932 C. D. Simak in Wonder Stories Nov. 515/1 | The two tiny slabs of rock, revolving about each other, made up a part of the asteroid belt, all that remained of a mythical planet between Mars and Jupiter (which must have disrupted into the thousands of tiny fragments many millions of years before). |
1947 M. W. Wellman in Startling Stories May 80/1 | The asteroid belt was many millions of miles across, but they hoped to encounter very few of the spinning particles at this time. |
1947 M. W. Wellman in Startling Stories May 80/1 | If it's so dangerous, why couldn't we fly over the asteroid belt? |
1999 M. J. Friedman My Brother's Keeper iii. ii. 19 | The most remarkable thing we encountered was an asteroid belt. |
2001 Locus June 33/2 | Martin Humphries presents rival Dan Randolph a solution ⥠that will also help Earth: build a fusion rocket so it is economically feasible to mine the Asteroid Belt for the energy the Earth needs. |