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Mars may be about 140 million miles away from Earth, but a piece of the Red Planet was discovered a little closer to home. In November 2023, a 54-pound and nearly 15-inch-long meteorite known as NWA 16788 was unearthed in the Sahara Desert in Nigeria’s Agadez region, joining the list of about 400 other Martian rocks found on Earth. Now, that “unbelievably rare” meteorite was sold at a Sotheby’s auction on July 16 for a whooping $4.3 million.
“This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth,” Cassandra Hatton, vice-chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said in a video recently uploaded by the auction house. “Remember that approximately 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in water, so we’re incredibly lucky that this landed on dry land.”
Lucky indeed, especially considering the meteorite’s lengthy journey from Mars. According to Sotheby’s, the meteorite was blown off the surface of Mars by an asteroid strike, with testing suggesting that the blast most likely happened in recent years. Additional examinations by the auction house determined that NWA 16788 was an “olivine-microgabbroic shergottite,” which is formed when Martian magma slowly cools. Alongside its coarse, grainy texture, the meteorite boasted a glassy surface, most likely due to the tremendous heat surrounding it while tearing through Earth’s atmosphere.
“That was their first clue that this wasn’t just some big rock on the ground,” Hatton says.
The meteorite was included as part of Sotheby’s sprawling natural history auction, which encompassed more than 120 archaeological and geological objects. Beyond the meteorite, the auction featured fossil plates, sandstone formations, and an impressive Ceratosaurus skeleton from the late Jurassic period, snagging a price of $26 million.
With additional fees and costs, the meteorite’s total price increased from $4.3 to $5.3 million. As of this writing, Sotheby’s has also not disclosed the meteorite’s owner, nor whether it’ll be in a public or private collection.
The largest Martian meteorite ever found on Earth has been sold for a whopping $4.3 million at a recent Sotheby’s auction.
Another example of a Martian meteorite, found in 1979 in the Elephant Moraine area of Antarctica. (Photo: NASA, Public domain)
Sources: Largest Mars rock found on Earth sees $4.3M bid at Sotheby’s auction; Largest piece of Mars on Earth sells for over $5m at New York auction; Largest Mars rock ever found on Earth sells at auction after $4.3m bid
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