Meteorite Hunter Finds Tiny Pieces From Minivan Sized Meteor That Exploded Over California Sunday
Posted on April 26, 2012
NASA reports that a meteor the size of a minivan exploded over northern California on the morning of Sunday, April 22, 2012. NASA estimates the meteor was the size of a minivan and weighed 154,300 pounds.
Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif, says, "Most meteors you see in the night's sky are the size of tiny stones or even grains of sand and their trail lasts all of a second or two. Fireballs you can see relatively easily in the daytime and are many times that size - anywhere from a baseball-sized object to something as big as a minivan."
Yeomans also said, "An event of this size might happen about once a year. "But most of them occur over the ocean or an uninhabited area, so getting to see one is something special."
People are now rushing to finding any surviving fragments of the meteor that survived. Meteorite hunter Robert Ward was able to find two small fragments. Ward says there are still pieces out there to be found.
The meteor has become known as the Sutter's Mill meteorite. The Wikipedia page shows some of the fragments discovered.