Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Zimmerman and Wetherill’s proposed mechanism for the production of meteorites from asteroids has been explored by numerous numerical computations of orbits. Starting from the vicinity of the 2/1 Kirkwood gap, 30% of our orbits soon have aphelia reaching beyond, but not much beyond 4 A.U.; (3% only exceed 4.3 A.U.). These results suggest that the proposed mechanism might work, although we have not yet checked whether Jupiter’s action will be large enough for those perihelia. Furthermore, our investigation has been extended to the 3/1, 7/3 and 5/2 Kirkwood gaps, and shows that these gaps should also be considered asa possible source of meteorites.