Visitors view a meteorite crater exhibited at a press conference held by Shanghai Planetarium in east China's Shanghai, Aug. 25, 2018. Shanghai Planetarium on Saturday announced plans to house meteorites recovered from a meteor fireball that happened over the sky in Jinghong City of southwest China's Yunnan Province in June. The planetarium, which is under construction, will be a branch of the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. The museum staff have successfully recovered more than 500 pieces of meteorites, about 50 kg in total, said Lin Qing, deputy director in charge of the planetarium construction, at a press conference Saturday. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

SHANGHAI, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Planetarium on Saturday announced plans to house meteorites recovered from a meteor fireball that happened over the sky in Jinghong City of southwest China's Yunnan Province in June.

The planetarium, which is under construction, will be a branch of the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. The museum staff have successfully recovered more than 500 pieces of meteorites, about 50 kg in total, said Lin Qing, deputy director in charge of the planetarium construction, at a press conference Saturday.

Xu Weibiao, professor from the Purple Mountain Observatory, said the parent body of the meteor exploded into hundreds of pieces scattering across an area of 20 square kilometers in Jinghong.

They are classified as type L6 ordinary chondrite. The largest piece weighed 1,228 grams.

The scientists have also collected witness videos of the fireball and main meteorite craters as well as site research results for the planetarium's future exhibitions.

Xu said the meteorites carried information about the past impact of their parent asteroid in space, and were excellent samples for studying the history of interplanetary impact collisions in the solar system.