A small planet is a messenger from outer space

Millions of very strange and unusual fragments of rock are moving high above us, in space, between the orbits of large planets. Each such fragment, called the "small planet", has its own amazing history, inextricably linked with the evolution of the solar system. Many scientists believe that the key to unraveling the mysteries of the formation of the entire structure of outer space surrounding us is hidden precisely by these strange objects. Any small planet (asteroid) is formed as a result of an extraordinary event - the birth of the solar system.

In fact, all these celestial bodies are products and dumb witnesses of a whole series of incredibly powerful cosmic cataclysms that led to the formation of our clear and stable planetary system. Any small planet is a kind of chronicler of catastrophic events that took place in this part of Cheerful about four and a half billion years ago.

Their uniqueness, in comparison with the nine large planets revolving around the Sun, lies in the fact that asteroids, due to their small size and considerable distance from the star, have undergone much less evolutionary changes. In other words, formed from the same material as the other objects of our planetary system, asteroids still store ancient evidence of the Great Catastrophe era.

The small planets of the solar system are the only celestial bodies in it, which modern science studies in two ways - by means of astronomy and unmanned space vehicles, and also directly in laboratories on Earth. Practically in all cases when it is possible to determine the exact trajectory of the meteorite movement , it turns out that it came to our planet from a unique place in the foreseeable part of the universe - a belt of asteroids, 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 small planet are bodies that have exactly the same origin and composition. In those rare cases when an asteroid moves along a strongly elongated elliptical trajectory (which is often characteristic of them) crossing the earth's orbit, a small planet has all the chances to get into the laboratory and undergo thorough research there. What can not be said about the other "inhabitants" of the solar system. This is the fundamental importance of small planets for world science.

The unified nature of meteorites and asteroids greatly expands the possibilities of studying the latter. Combining information about small planets, obtained by astronomical means, with the data of meteorite research, it is possible to obtain answers to a number of cosmogonic questions. In particular, to resolve such a cardinal problem as the origin of the asteroid ring. Perhaps one day an answer will be found to the question: "Was there a large planet on the site of this unusually splinter belt, which died as a result of the cosmic cataclysm, leaving behind millions of debris? Or is this just the result of the fragmentation of small cosmic bodies in the process of the formation of our planetary system? "

But this is not the only meaning of the minor planets. The high-molecular organic compounds discovered in the composition of meteorites and the so-called "organized elements", which many scientists consider to be remnants of organisms of extraterrestrial origin, posed to modern natural science such questions as the evolution of biological organisms in outer space. What, perhaps, will shed light on the birth and development of life on Earth. It is possible that the study of meteorites and minor planets will solve these extremely important problems for humanity.