TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- A piece of the moon has found a home at Arizona State University.

The university announced Friday that its Center for Meteorite Studies has received a space rock.

ASU officials say the softball-sized meteorite was given by Jay Piatek, a longtime donor to the school.

Piatek purchased the rock, which was found near the Moroccan-Algerian border in 2012, from a Moroccan meteorite dealer.

Researchers say the sample is a rare class of meteorites that originated from the moon called lunaites.

They say there are tens of thousands of known meteorites but only fewer than a hundred are from the moon.

The center has six other smaller moon rocks.

The donated rock will be on display for a short time before being used for research.

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