Earth Formed from Material Exclusively from the Inner Solar System
Planetary scientists compared existing data on the isotopic ratios of a wide range of meteorites, including those from Mars and the asteroid Vesta, with those of Earth. Isotopes are sibling atoms of the same element (same number of protons) that have a different mass (different number of neutrons).
The researchers analyzed this data in a new way and arrived at a surprising conclusion: the material that makes up Earth originates entirely from the inner region of the solar system.