Recent studies reveal that most of the meteorites found on Earth can be traced back to a few significant collisions in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. One particularly impactful event occurred approximately 470 million years ago, leaving a lasting mark on our planet’s history.
These meteorites serve as valuable records of the early solar system’s turbulent past. However, their origins have remained shrouded in mystery for many years. Understanding which asteroid they originated from is akin to finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow for researchers like Sara Russell, a planetary scientist at London’s Natural History Museum.
The majority of Earth’s meteorites belong to the category of ordinary chondrites, with two specific classes – H and L chondrites - making up a significant portion of these space rocks. It has been theorized that L chondrites all stem from one main parent asteroid due to their shared mineralogical characteristics resulting from intense shock and heat exposure during an explosive collision.
Date: 2024-10-16 10:00:00
Source: Post originally published on www.sciencenews.org