Such falls are favored because, as the Earth spins, the hemisphere with noon to midnight local time encounters objects in orbit around the Sun that are closing in on the Earth. In this case, capture by the Earth's gravity is more likely. On the contrary, objects that pass in front of the hemisphere with local time between midnight and noon are pulling away from the Earth. In this case gravity is less likely to pull in the object. Bodies in orbit around the Sun are called meteoroids if there is a chance that they may at some time land on the Earth.
Most meteorites are fragments broken from asteroids.
Most asteroids, however, orbit the Sun in almost circular, stable orbits in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Meteorites, then, are strays from the asteroid belt that were diverted by the gravity of Jupiter into elliptical, Earth-crossing orbits. Meteorites are classified in three general categories. As a result, they are very different from indigenous rocks. This composition of ore does not occur in the Earth's crust.