An examination of nearly 8,000 impact observations indicates that the objects most likely to reach the Earth’s surface have experienced substantial thermal stress during close solar encounters. Around half of the remaining objects are then removed by the atmosphere, resulting in a filtered subset of material in the meteoritic collection.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Binzel, R. P., Reddy, V. & Dunn, T. L. in Asteroids IV (eds Michel, P. et al.) 243–256 (University of Arizona Press, 2015). A review chapter that presents an overview of the population of near-Earth objects and its relation to meteorites.
Brož, M. et al. Source regions of carbonaceous meteorites and near-Earth objects. Astron. Astrophys. 689, A183 (2024). This paper identifies which asteroid families are likely to be sources of carbonaceous chondrites and the carbonaceous flux at the Earth.
Granvik, M. & Walsh, K. J. Tidal disruption of near-Earth asteroids during close encounters with terrestrial planets. Astrophys. J. Lett. 960, L9 (2024). This study presents evidence for tidally generated near-Earth asteroids.
Cambioni, S. et al. Fine-regolith production on asteroids controlled by rock porosity. Nature 598, 49–52 (2021). This study finds that regolith production on Bennu is inversely correlated with porosity.
Shober, P. M., Caffee, M. W. & Bland, P. A. Cosmic-ray exposure age accumulated in near-Earth space: a carbonaceous chondrite case study. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 59, 2695–2717 (2024). This study compares measured cosmic-ray exposure ages of CI (Ivuna-type) and CM (Mighei-type) chondrites to those in a near-Earth ejection model.
Brož, M. et al. Young asteroid families as the primary source of meteorites. Nature 634, 566–571 (2024). This study identifies young asteroid families consistent with the sources of meteorites found on Earth.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Shober, P. M. et al. Perihelion history and atmospheric survival as primary drivers of the Earth’s meteorite record. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02526-6 (2025).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Solar heating and atmospheric filtering bias the meteorite record. Nat Astron 9, 779–780 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02527-5
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02527-5
