Sutter’s Mill Meteorite
Image Credit P. Jenniskens (SETI Institute) and Eric James (NASA Ames)
Explanation: Last Sunday’s bright fireball meteor falling through skies over California and Nevada produced sonic booms over a broad area around 7:21 am. Estimates indicate the meteor was about the size of a minivan. Astronomer Peter Jenniskens subsequently recovered these fragments of a crushed 4 gram meteorite, the second find from this meteor fall, in the parking lot of the Henningsen-Lotus state park, not far from Sutter’s Mill. This is now known as the Sutter’s Mill Meteorite, the location famous for its association with the California Gold Rush.