Exploring Space - The Quest for Life Exploring Space - The Quest for Life Exploring Space - The Quest for Life
Meteorites and Life - The Possible Relationship to Life

Did We Come From Comet Dust?

More Crumbs of Creation: Formation of the Asteroid Belt

Slightly less than 4.5 billion years ago

Asteriods
Asteroids
 
The solar system's main asteroid belt, located between Jupiter and Mars, is thought to be the primary source of meteorites that fall to Earth. Asteroids and asteroid fragments are sometimes knocked out of the belt and hurled into space where they occasionally hit Earth.

Like meteors, asteroids are smaller objects left over from the formation of the solar system. It's believed that these pieces were prevented from fusing into planets by the tremendous gravitational effect of nearby Jupiter.


Back Introduction 4.5 billion years ago - In the Beginning: Formation of the Solar System less that 4.5 billion years ago - Crumbs of Creation: Formation of the Oort Cloud less that 4.5 billion years ago - More Crumbs of Creation: Formation of the Asteroid Belt May 1848 - Louis Pasteur's Discovery: The Design of Life Feb. 1953 - Stanley Miller's Experiment: Sparking the Building Blocks of Life Sept. 28, 1969 - The Murchison Meteorite Meets Earth Feb. 14, 1997 - Discovering a Left-Handed Link to Space: Amino Acids Found in Meteorite Dec. 20, 2001 - A Sweet Discovery: Sugars Found in Murchison Today - The Research Continues Next