Did Jupiter affect which meteorites reach Earth?

Jupiter has influenced meteorites in several ways, from the earliest days to the present.

Shaping the early Solar System. Jupiter probably grew very quickly. Its gravity may have created a barrier in the disc, keeping inner and outer Solar System material apart, which explains the isotopic dichotomy. Later, models suggest Jupiter's movements, inwards and then outwards, or the instability of the giant planets, scattered asteroids. These events may explain why the asteroid belt contains both inner and outer Solar System bodies, including carbonaceous asteroids that formed beyond Jupiter.

Preventing a planet. Jupiter's gravity stirred up asteroids in the belt, raising their collision speeds so that they broke apart rather than merging. This may have prevented a planet from forming there and left the belt with only a small fraction of its original mass.

Creating gaps and resonances. Where an asteroid's orbital period is a simple fraction of Jupiter's, such as one-third or two-fifths, Jupiter's regular tugs build up. These resonances create the Kirkwood gaps in the belt. Asteroid fragments that drift into a resonance, nudged by the Yarkovsky effect, have their orbits stretched until they cross the paths of Mars and Earth. The 3:1 resonance with Jupiter and the nu6 resonance involving Saturn are major routes delivering meteorites to Earth.

Comets. Jupiter's gravity also controls Jupiter-family comets, whose dust feeds meteor showers.

So, without Jupiter, the meteorites falling on Earth would be very different, and perhaps far fewer.

More about the science of meteorites

• What can meteorites tell us about the Moon's origin?
• Why are there no known meteorites from Mercury or Venus?
• What is the most common type of meteorite to fall?
• Do meteorites contain sugars or DNA building blocks?
• How do scientists stop meteorites being contaminated?
• Why are witnessed falls more useful to science than finds?

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