system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
The asteroid belt...is it a sphere? 

I was thinking this morning that the solar system isnt flat, and if the asteroid belt which is commonly quoted (no reference) as one of the reasons earth hasnt been hit by any planet killing meteors, wouldnt it have to be a sphere, or is it on the same vector as Earth? (and even then, meteors can come out of anywhere (i think).
gpt
The asteroid belt is pretty flat, you can imagine it like one of the rings of Saturn in shape. The reason for this is that all the planets/asteroids etc in the solar system formed inside a spinning ring of matter (an accretion disc) around the very young Sun, so are all orbiting roughly the same way (interactions between bodies since then has scattered some out, hence the rogue asteroids we worry about hitting the Earth, but the majority of stuff is still merrily spinning on round the Sun in the same plane we are).