Midwest meteor named Mifflin after Wis. township

September 1, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A meteorite that lit up the sky in April now has a name: Mifflin.

Pieces of the meteorite were found in Wisconsin so it was named after that township, Mifflin. Some of those pieces are now on display at Chicago's Field Museum.

Mifflin was named by the Meteoritical Society. The group also has classified it as an ordinary chondrite meteorite.

Pieces of the meteorite are on display at the Chicago museum. The museum also has received four pieces as a donation from a meteorite collector. Scientists from Washington, Chicago and Wisconsin have analyzed and classified meteorite pieces.

Scientists say that analysis tells them the meteorite originally came from an asteroid fragment that separated from the main asteroid 470 million years ago between the planets of Mars and Jupiter.

Online: http://www.fieldmuseum.org

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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