Giant Mars rock For Auction In New York: Why is a 25 kg meteorite so expensive?
The largest Piece Of Mars Ever Found On Earth Is For Auction In New York: For sale – a 54-pound (25-kilogram) stone. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It is the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. Sotheby’s in New York will auction a stone called NWA 16788, which also includes the skeleton of a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur, more than 6 feet tall and about 11 feet long, as part of a natural history auction on Wednesday.
It flew to Earth after being hit by a giant asteroid
According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a giant asteroid and then traveled 140 million miles to Earth, where it crashed into the Sahara. Sotheby’s says a meteorite spotter found it in Niger in November 2023.
Red, brown, and grey meteorite
Sotheby’s says the red, brown, and gray piece is about 70% larger than the previous largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents about 7% of all Martian material currently on the planet. It measures about 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches.
The largest piece of Mars
Cassandra Hatton, vice president of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said, “This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found. So it is more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars. It is also a rare find. Sotheby’s says that of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, only 400 are Martian meteorites.
A piece of Mars was proved by the test
Hatton said that a small piece of the remains of the red planet was removed and sent to a special laboratory, where it was confirmed that it was from Mars. He said that it was compared with the specific chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1976.
How did Mars’s rocks form?
Investigations found it to be an “olivine-microgabbroic shergottite,” a type of Martian rock formed by the slow cooling of Martian magma. Sotheby’s says it has a rough texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine.
Its surface is like glass
Hatton said it also had a glassy surface, which was probably charred by the intense heat as it fell into Earth’s atmosphere. “That was their first clue that it wasn’t just a big rock lying on the ground,” he said. The meteorite had previously been on display at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby’s did not reveal its owner.
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