Young asteroid families as the primary source of meteorites.

Understanding the origin of bright shooting stars and their meteorite samples is among the most ancient of astronomy-related questions, which at larger scales has human consequences. As of today, only approximately 6% of meteorite falls have been firmly linked to their sources (Moon, Mars or asteroid (4) Vesta). Here we show that approximately 70% of meteorites originate from three recent break-ups of D > 30 km asteroids that occurred 5.

Solar System evolution from compositional mapping of the asteroid belt.

Advances in the discovery and characterization of asteroids over the past decade have revealed an unanticipated underlying structure that points to a dramatic early history of the inner Solar System. The asteroids in the main asteroid belt have been discovered to be more compositionally diverse with size and distance from the Sun than had previously been known. This implies substantial mixing through processes such as planetary migration and the subsequent dynamical processes.

Compositional differences between meteorites and near-Earth asteroids.

Understanding the nature and origin of the asteroid population in Earth's vicinity (near-Earth asteroids, and its subset of potentially hazardous asteroids) is a matter of both scientific interest and practical importance. It is generally expected that the compositions of the asteroids that are most likely to hit Earth should reflect those of the most common meteorites. Here we report that most near-Earth asteroids (including the potentially hazardous subset) have spectral properties quantitatively similar to the class of meteorites known as LL chondrites.