High above us, in space, millions of very strange and unusual rock fragments move between the orbits of the major planets. Each such fragment, called the "minor planet", has its own amazing history, inextricably linked with the evolution of the solar system. Many scientists are sure that these strange objects hide the key to unraveling the secrets of the formation of the entire structure of the outer space around us. Any minor planet (asteroid) is formed as a result of an extraordinary event - the birth of the solar system.
In fact, all these celestial bodies are the products and silent witnesses of a whole series of incredibly powerful cosmic cataclysms that led to the formation of our clear and stable planetary system. Any minor planet is a kind of chronicler of the catastrophic events that took place in this part of Veselnaya about four and a half billion years ago.
Their uniqueness compared to ninelarge planets revolving around the Sun is that asteroids, due to their small size and considerable distance from the star, have undergone much smaller evolutionary changes. In other words, formed from the same material as the rest of the objects of our planetary system, asteroids still keep ancient evidence of the era of the Great Catastrophes.
Small planets of the solar system are the only celestial bodies in it that modern science studies in two ways - by means of astronomy and unmanned spacecraft, as well as directly in laboratories on Earth. In almost all cases, when it is possible to determine the exact trajectory of a meteorite, it turns out that it arrived on our planet from a unique place in the observable part of the Universe - the asteroid belt, an analogue of which has not yet been found in any of the open planetary systems.
At this time, there is no doubt that any meteorite and a minor planet are bodies that have exactly the same origin and composition. In those frequent cases when an asteroid moves along a highly elongated elliptical trajectory (which is often characteristic of them), crossing the earth's orbit, a small planet has every chance of getting into the laboratory and undergoing thorough research there. What can not be said about the rest of the "inhabitants" of the solar system. This is the fundamental importance of minor planets for world science.
The same nature of meteorites and asteroidsgreatly expands the possibilities of studying the latter. Combining information about minor planets, obtained by astronomical means, with data from the study of meteorites, it is possible to obtain answers to a number of cosmogonic questions. In particular, to solve such a cardinal problem as the origin of the asteroid ring. Perhaps someday an answer will be found to the question: “Did a large planet exist on the site of this unusual fragment belt, which died as a result of a cosmic cataclysm, leaving behind millions of fragments? Or is it just the result of the fragmentation of small cosmic bodies in the process of forming our planetary system?”
But that's not the only meaning of the minor planets. High-molecular organic compounds and so-called “organized elements” found in meteorites, which are considered by many scientists to be the remains of organisms of extraterrestrial origin, have raised such questions as the evolution of biological organisms in outer space before modern natural science. Which, perhaps, will shed light on the origin and development of life on Earth. It is possible that the study of meteorites and minor planets will allow solving these problems, which are extremely important for mankind.
