The planets of our solar system orbit around the sun but do not give off heat and light. Some of these planets have moons orbiting them. In the sky we see the planets and moons shine because they reflect the light of our sun. Also moving about the solar system are asteroids, meteoroids and comets. Asteroids and meteoroids are like various size rocks traveling through space.
Asteroids orbit the sun like little planets while meteoroids usually have no specific orbit.
Comets, on the other hand, are balls of ice and dust that orbit the sun like asteroids. Both comets and asteroids usually follow very elliptical orbits. Farther out in space there we see many more stars . Updated February 23, 1996.