America divided rare meteors to study

Five American science organizations together shared rare meteorites that exploded in a fireball event in California's sky last year.

The meteorite, named Sutter's Mill , dates from the first stage when the solar system formed 4 to 5 billion years ago.

A sample of Sutter's Mill meteorite - (Photo: University of California)

It was about the size of a small truck when it entered the Earth's atmosphere on April 22, 2012, accompanied by a deafening explosion that shook some American states. The event can be observed from Sacramento, California, to Las Vegas and a part of northern Nevada state.

According to the AP, the Smithsonian Institute, a US research and museum institute, cut the heavy meteorite 205g into five pieces and divided it equally into the Field Museum in Chicago; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington; American Museum of Natural History in New York; Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and the University of California at Davis.

Scientists have planned to use these meteorites for research projects, to determine its meteorite age and chemical structure.

Private collector Robert Haag is the owner of the meteorite and he contacted Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of the Meteorological Research Center of Arizona State University. For her part, she contacted scientific organizations to share this rare specimen.