Short answers, pulled from the story.
Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first asteroid named Ceres on the 1st of January 1801. He was a Catholic priest searching for a star cataloged by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille when he noticed the faint, star-like point of light.
The total mass of the asteroid belt is estimated to be 2.39 x 10^21 kg, which is just 3% of the mass of the Moon. This mass is distributed over a large volume, making the belt mostly empty.
European Space Agency scientists reported the detection of water vapor on Ceres on the 22nd of January 2014. This finding was made using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory.
Scientists reported detecting sugar molecules, including ribose, in meteorites in November 2019. These findings suggest that chemical processes on asteroids can produce essential bio-ingredients important to life.
In 2024, the LINEAR system alone had discovered 147,132 asteroids. This system is part of highly efficient surveys consisting of charge-coupled device cameras and computers connected to telescopes.