What happened to the leftover planetesimals?
They would continue to orbit the Sun, perturbed occasionally by planets, until * crash into the Sun * crash into a planet or moon causing a crater (the craters covering the planets and moons are a testament to this, see figure 7.14 on page 231). * were captured as a satellite (small moon) * found a safe orbit Asteroids are inner solar system planetesimals which have survived until today, prevented from pulling together into a planet due to interference from nearby Jupiter’s gravity. Asteroids are very interesting, they’re the leftover raw material from which planets like the Earth were formed. The Kuiper Belt is a haven for outer solar system planetesimals. The Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt are locations where planetesimals could orbit safe from planetary perturbations. * were deflected out of the solar system This is largely the origin of the Oort Cloud, comets (planetesimals) thrown out of the solar system by gravitational encounters with large planets. There may have been more plane
