* Planetesimals: The dust particles, under the influence of gravity, started clumping together to form larger objects called planetesimals. These were the building blocks of planets.
* Planetary Accretion: Planetesimals continued to collide and merge, growing larger and larger until they eventually became the planets we know today.
* Asteroid Belt: Some planetesimals never accreted into planets and remained in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This region is a graveyard of leftover building blocks.
* Comets: Some planetesimals were ejected further out into the solar system, forming the icy bodies we call comets.
* Dust Disks: The leftover dust particles that didn't form planetesimals were eventually blown away by the solar wind, creating a dust disk around the young Sun. This disk can be observed around other young stars.
* Solar Nebula: The original cloud of gas and dust that formed the Sun and planets is called the solar nebula. The remnants of this nebula are scattered throughout the solar system, contributing to the faint interplanetary dust cloud that we see.
So, the remaining dust didn't disappear. It became the building blocks of planets, asteroids, comets, and even contributes to the faint dust cloud surrounding our Sun.
