Primitive meteorites also provide clues to the proportions of the elements present in the solar system as a whole. Such rocks offer a snapshot of the conditions in the early solar system. Many primitive meteorites have remained essentially unchanged since they formed. ![]() Researchers have used the age of this material-4.568 billion years-to determine the age of our solar system. Origins of the Solar SystemĬertain "primitive" meteorites contain the first solid material to form in our solar system. ![]() By studying meteorites, we can learn details about how our solar system evolved into the Sun and planets of today-and how meteorite impacts could affect our future. But scientists spend their careers studying meteorites because they contain a record of our solar system's history going back some 4.6 billion years. The most interesting aspect of a meteorite might seem to be its dramatic fall to Earth, often in a blazing fireball. Scientists have identified several meteorites that might be fragments of the rocky cores of comets. Made of dust, rock and ices, comets are typically found in the outer reaches of our solar system, beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. Such "lunar meteorites" are identical in composition to the astronauts' moon rocks, although they come from different locations-possibly even from the far side of the Moon, which never faces Earth. But small pieces of the Moon also occasionally reach Earth as meteorites. The most famous moon rocks are those collected by astronauts who walked on the Moon. Some meteorites might be from Mercury, but researchers are still investigating this claim. People have found meteorites that are definitely from the planet Mars, some of which are on display in this hall. These fragments were likely blasted off planets when they were hit by a large asteroid or comet. PlanetsĪ small number of meteorites are pieces of rock from the surfaces of other planets. Many of these asteroids then travel toward the inner solar system-where they can collide with Earth. Asteroids, which are much smaller than planets, are sometimes pulled out of the asteroid belt by the force of Jupiter's gravity. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, and its gravity is very strong. ![]() Asteroids are rocky bodies found mostly in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. The vast majority of meteorites are fragments of shattered asteroids. People have also found meteorites that are quite small, about the size of beach pebbles or even grains of sand. Meteorites can be huge: the biggest one ever found weighs around 60 tons, roughly twice as much as the Ahnighito meteorite at the center of this room. Such fragments orbit the Sun for some time–often millions of years–before colliding with Earth. All meteorites come from inside our solar system. Most of them are fragments of asteroids that broke apart long ago in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter.
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