SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Detailed explanation-2: -Most asteroids are irregularly shaped and all have craters from impacts with other asteroids. However, the largest asteroid, Ceres, has sufficient gravity to become nearly spherical, so it is also classified as a dwarf planet!

Detailed explanation-3: -How are asteroids formed? Dust particles in the early Solar System collided, forming larger clumps, known as planetesimals. These could grow by attracting more dust with their gravitational fields; some grew large enough to form the planets. Others remained, becoming the asteroids.

Detailed explanation-4: -Asteroids are found mostly in a set of orbits between Mars and Jupiter. This is known as the asteroid belt. Other families of asteroids exist outside this main belt. Soon after the discovery of Ceres, the first asteroid, 19th century astronomers found others.