Will Ceres eventually collect most of the material in the asteroid belt and form a true planet

Question

Will Ceres eventually collect most of the material in the asteroid belt and form a true planet

Answer 1

No. Not only is the mass in the asteroid belt not within the gravity reach of Ceres, there's furthermore not enough mass in the whole belt to create a major planet.

Answer 2

No. It does not look like Ceres is in the process of collecting asteroid belt material.  The Dawn mission is headed there.  We'll learn something new.  Perhaps i'll be found to be wrong.  Hopefully i won't be pig headed, and will go with the new evidence.

But in my opinion, Ceres is big enough to be a planet. I'm not fond of the International Astronomical Union's definition.

Answer 3

It's theoretically possible that the belt could eventually turn into a larger body (not very large though, not enough stuff). However, the gravity of Jupiter prevents this from happening. The asteroid belt is actually considered to be kind of a failed planet. Jupiter is so imposing in it's orbit that it prevented a larger body from forming in that area.

Answer 4

Unlikely as the gravitational pull of any object in the asteroid belt isnt large enough to drag another object onto itself.

Answer 5

Nope

Answer 6

What's a 'true planet'?

Many people misuderstood Pluto's reclassification as meaning it wasn't a planet. It's a dward planet. Having a new class we have more planets! ;-)