A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are significantly smaller than asteroids, and range in size from small grains to one-meter-wide objects.Objects smaller than this are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust. Most are fragments from comets  or asteroids, whereas others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the MOON or MARS. When a meteoroid, comet,…

Stars are born in an enormous cloud of interstellar dust and hydrogen gas called a nebula. Nebulae represent the building blocks for stars,galaxies,and planets in the universe. Emission nebulae are hot,discrete clouds of primarily ionized hydrogen that glow with their own light. Reflection nebulae emit a bluish glow by reflecting the scattered light of nearby…

Asteroids are minor planets, especially of the inner Solar System. Larger asteroids have also been called planetoids. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not resolve into a disc in a telescope and was not observed to have characteristics of an active comet such as a tail. As minor planets in the outer Solar System were discovered…

A constellation is a group of stars that appears to form a pattern or picture like Orion the Great Hunter, Leo the Lion, or Taurus the Bull. Constellations are easily recognizable patterns that help people orient themselves using the night sky. There are 88 “official” constellations. The origins of the earliest constellations likely go back to prehistory. People used them to…