Planetesimal formation in the solar nebula

Abstract Terrestrial planets, cores of giant planets and small bodies of the solar system − comets and asteroids − resulted from the coagulation of interstellar dust grains, and grains which were melted or evaporated and condensed again in the solar nebula. The paper describes the growth and processing of dust grains and their aggregates, starting from molecular cloud cores through the formation and evolution of the solar nebula and the accumulation of these aggregates in larger solid bodies − planetesimals. Discussed are the processes which could be responsible for the interruption of accumulation in the region of the asteroid belt, and processes which shaped the Kuiper belt.