All the planets move around the Sun in the same direction and more or less in the same plane. This is not a coincidence, but the result of joint formation from the disk of gas and dust that revolves around the Sun. In between, asteroids often pass fairly irregular orbits, as they often change their path due to the gravitational forces of the planets. There are always conflicts.
Shortly after its formation, Earth was heavily bombarded by asteroids and comets. According to a general theory, a lot of carbonaceous material and water was distributed about four billion years ago. Without outside influences, life might never have originated on Earth.
Jupiter – Earth’s comet defense screen
We also have Jupiter to thank for the fact that cosmic hits are very rare today. The giant planet intercepts many comets drifting in the inner Solar System – they collapse into its gas mass and thus cannot collide with Earth.
Our two neighboring planets show how lucky Earth is in the Solar System. Mars and Venus were launched under similar conditions to Earth – but Mars has almost completely lost its atmosphere and Venus is experiencing a devastating greenhouse effect. Earth is a small island of life in the great current of the Solar System.
