Asteroids are rocky and metallic objects that orbit the sun but are too small to be considered planets hence are known as minor planets. They range in size from about 1000 km down to the size of a pebble
They are the material left over from the formation of the solar system and one theory suggests that they are the remains of a planet that was destroyed in a massive collision long ago. More likely they are the remains of a material that never coalesced into a planet. If the estimated total mass of all asteroids was gathered into a single object, its diameter would be less than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) across which is less than half the diameter of our moon.
Much of our understanding about them comes from examining pieces of space debris that fall to the surface of Earth. Those that are on a collision course with us are called meteoroids and when one of these strikes our atmosphere at high velocity, friction causes it to incinerate in a streak of light known as a meteor. If the meteoroid does not burn up completely, what's left strikes Earth's surface and is called a meteorite.
Further reading:
Asteroid
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