Where do most meteorites found on Earth come from?
Most meteorites found on Earth originate from the asteroid belt, a region located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.12
Scientific evidence indicates that these meteorites are fragments of asteroids that have been nudged into Earth-crossing orbits, primarily through gravitational resonances with Jupiter. While the vast majority of discrete meteorites are asteroidal in origin, a very small fractionâless than 1 percentâare known to come from the Moon or Mars, having been ejected into space by large impacts.3214
Additionally, while comets are believed to contribute a significant portion of the micrometeorites that drift through Earth's atmosphere, it is not generally believed that larger cometary fragments survive the journey to reach the surface as identifiable meteorites in collections.2