Minerals and Rocks. Volume 10. Meteorites. Classification and properties / Минералы и породы. Выпуск 10. Метеориты. Классификация и свойства

The solar system consists of the sun, nine planets, 32 known satellites  (and a ring system), several thousand telescopically visible asteroids,  > 105 comets, meteoroids (see Glossary), interplanetary dust, and a  tenuous and transitory plasma (the solar wind). A primary purpose of  meteorite research is to learn more about the origin and evolution of the  solar system.
Meteorites carry information about a wide variety of solar-system  processes: 1. those which occurred in the solar nebula (see Glossary)  prior to the formation of planets; 2. those which occurred in planet -like  bodies, and which were similar to processes occurring in the interiors of  the earth and other planets; 3. those resulting from collisional  interaction between interplanetary objects, i.e., shock and fragmentation  processes; and 4. those produced by interaction with solar and galactic cosmic rays. <...>