Chunks of rock and metal from planetary bodies that survive their journey through the atmosphere and fall to the ground are call
ed meteorites and scientists have found over 50,000 on Earth's surface. Of these, 99.8% come from asteroids and evidence suggests that they are very old, 4.5 to 4.6 billion years. Asteroids and the meteorites that fall to Earth are the original diverse materials from which the planets formed. Because of this, what information can astronomers gain about the beginnings of the solar system?
They´re a source of invaluable information. The study of these cosmic materials allows us to gain knowledge about the history of the solar system, about processes and primary conditions in the universe. We can learn the age and the composition of the planetary building blocks, the temperatures reached at the surface and interiors of asteroids, what kind of effect do materials experience due to impacts in the past.
