Image Credit: Flickr user statefarm, via Creative Commons

Did you know that there are rocks floating in the outer space? Some are as tiny as a dust grain and others may be as big as a small planet. The smaller rocks are called meteoroids. We have a special name for the bigger rocks: they are called asteroids. The biggest asteroid that we know about is called Ceres.

Asteroids like to form groups around the Sun. There are two main belts of asteroids and they are called the inner belt (closer to the sun) and the outer belt (far away from the sun). The inner belt asteroids are mainly made up of metal. The outer belt asteroids are made up of carbon and are much darker in color.

Sometimes, asteroids falling on Earth can cause serious damage to life – humans and wild life alike. It is believed that an asteroid impact led to the extinction of dinosaurs. How so? Read more here.

Asteroids falling on Earth have some good uses too. Asteroids after making impact usually make huge craters on the ground. These craters can become very good source for minerals and metals which can be extracted.