Where do meteorites that fall on Earth originate from?
Meteorites originate from celestial bodies in our Solar System. While most meteorites come from asteroids, they have also been identified from the Moon and Mars. We know where meteorites originate from by studying their compositions, which are very diagnostic. Violent collisions between bodies in our Solar System knock fragments off the surfaces of large bodies, like the Moon and Mars, and completely disrupt smaller bodies like asteroids, sending rock fragments into Earthcrossing orbits.
Fortunately for scientists, since meteorites come from many different celestial bodies, they represent many different stages of planetary evolution. Studying them allows us to understand what our Solar System formed from and how it evolved. For example, chondritic stony meteorites formed shortly after the birth of the Solar System four-and-a-half billion years ago, providing a snapshot of the nature of the building blocks of Earth. In contrast, lunar and Martian meteorites are younger and provide a way to study the later stages of planetary evolution, helping us understand how important components, such as water, are stored in minerals in large, evolved
planetary bodies.