Eli5, why does earth have way less craters then almost any other planet in our solar system?
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Earth has a much thicker atmosphere than Mercury or the Moon (or Mars) so objects coming close have to deal with more friction when entering our atmosphere than these others’, meaning more of them burn up – either they burn up entirely or partially, meaning a smaller impact object and a smaller crater as a result.
Earth’s surface is also about 70% water so a majority of objects will impact over the oceans so we wouldn’t be able to see the craters anyway (plus the water resistance will slow them down, again reducing the size of any craters).
Earth is also a very geologically active planet; the crust is divided into different tectonic plates which move against one another (causing earthquakes and boundaries where they meet – hence the ring of fire around the Pacific Plate). Over time a lot of the crust gets ‘recycled’ due to this movement of plates so some of the older craters will disappear.
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