The universe consists of a huge number of cosmic bodies. Every night we can contemplate the stars in the sky, which seem very small, although they are not. In fact, some of them are many times larger than the Sun. It is assumed that a planetary system is formed around each lone star. So, for example, the Solar System was formed near the Sun, consisting of eight large, as well as small and dwarf planets, comets, black holes, cosmic dust, etc.
Earth is a cosmic body because it is a planet, a spherical object that reflects sunlight. Seven other planets are also visible to us only due to the fact that they reflect the light of the star. In addition to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which was also considered a planet until 2006, a huge number of asteroids, which are also called minor planets, are also concentrated in the solar system. Their number reaches 400 thousand, but many scientists agree that there are more than a billion of them.
Comets are also cosmic bodies moving along elongated trajectories and approaching the Sun at a certain time. They consist of gas, plasma and dust; overgrown with ice, reach a size oftens of kilometers. When approaching a star, comets gradually melt. The high temperatures cause the ice to evaporate, forming a head and a tail of astonishing proportions.
Asteroids are the cosmic bodies of the solar system, also called minor planets. Their main part is concentrated between Mars and Jupiter. They consist of iron and stone and are divided into two types: light and dark. The first ones are lighter, the second ones are harder. Asteroids are irregular in shape. It is assumed that they were formed from the remnants of cosmic matter after the formation of the main planets, or they are fragments of a planet located between Mars and Jupiter.
Some cosmic bodies reach the Earth, but, passing through the thick layers of the atmosphere, they heat up and break into small pieces during friction. Therefore, relatively small meteorites fell on our planet. This phenomenon is by no means uncommon, fragments of asteroids are kept in many museums around the world, they were found in 3500 places.
In space there are not only large objects, but also tiny ones. So, for example, bodies up to 10 m in size are called meteoroids. Cosmic dust is even smaller, up to 100 microns in size. It appears in the atmospheres of stars as a result of gas emissions or explosions. Not all space bodies have been studied by scientists. These include black holes, which are found in almost every galaxy. They cannot be seen, it is only possible to determine their location. Black holes have a very strong attraction, so they do not even let go of light. They annuallyabsorb huge amounts of hot gas.
Space bodies have different shapes, sizes, location in relation to the Sun. Some of them are combined into separate groups to make them easier to classify. So, for example, asteroids located between the Kuiper belt and Jupiter are called Centaurs. Vulcanoids are thought to lie between the Sun and Mercury, although no objects have yet been discovered.
