Yesterday, public sale home Sotheby’s simply auctioned off the biggest recognized Martian meteorite. The stone NWA 16788 offered for $5.3 million, greater than anticipated and the best worth ever for a meteorite.
The most important Martian meteorite on Earth
The Sotheby’s public sale for meteorite NWA 16788, the biggest chunk of Mars discovered on Earth, began at $2 million. Whereas Sotheby’s anticipated it to go for between $2 and $4 million, a 15-minute bidding warfare drove the worth as much as $4.3 million… and with charges, the ultimate worth got here in at an eye-watering $5.3 million. This makes NWA 16788 the costliest meteorite ever offered at public sale.
NWA 16788 weighs round 25 kilograms (55 kilos), making it 70 % bigger than the second-largest Martian meteorite discovered to this point, and it accounts for about 7 % of the whole recognized mass of Mars on Earth. The rock was present in November 2023 by a meteorite collector within the Sahara Desert, and all proof factors to a comparatively current influence as a result of hardly any traces of weathering.
Martian rocks are extraordinarily uncommon, with solely 400 of the over 77,000 registered meteorites coming from the crimson planet. NWA 16788 is an “olivine microgabbro shergottite,” a volcanic rock from cooled magma. Over 20 % consists of maskelynite, a glass that was fashioned by an asteroid influence on Mars. This sort of meteorite is uncommon and accounts for under 5 % of Martian meteorite finds.
A booming marketplace for scientific finds
NWA 16788 was capable of fetch such a excessive worth due to its rarity, dimension, and scientific significance. It presents insights into the geology of Mars and the historical past of the planet. Hundreds of holiday makers admired it earlier than the public sale, which speaks to our fascination of outer area. And at the exact same public sale, a Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton offered for $30.5 million, breaking one more file.
“These stellar outcomes underscore a deep and enduring fascination and respect for the pure world—from the farthest reaches of area to the traditional depths of the Earth,” emphasised Cassandra Hatton from Sotheby’s. “What attracts collectors is greater than only a ardour for science; it’s a deep-seated curiosity in regards to the forces which have formed our planet and past.” As such, the marketplace for meteorites and fossils is booming, with costs within the hundreds of thousands for uncommon items.
For mere mortals like us, possession of NWA 16788 is nothing greater than a pipe dream, and we will solely marvel at these kinds of issues in museums. The public sale proves how beneficial extraterrestrial materials will be—and the way costly a ardour for the cosmos will be.
This text initially appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
