Figure 15-4: The Kirkwood Gaps This graph displays the numbers of asteroids at various distances from the Sun. Very few asteroids are found in orbits whose orbital periods are equal to the simple fractions 1/3, 2/5, 3/7, and 1/2 of Jupiter’s orbital period. The Trojan asteroids (at far right) follow the same orbit as Jupiter and thus have the same orbital period. We describe these in Section 15-4.