Largest known Martian meteorite on Earth sells for $5.3 million at auction
The largest known Martian meteorite has just been sold at auction for $ 5.29 million, selling well on the requested price from $ 2 to 4 million. The big piece of the red planet could help us know more about our cosmic neighbor – if it is allowed to be properly studied.
The meteorite, nicknamed North West Africa (NWA) 16788, measures approximately twice the size of a basketball and weighs 54 pounds (24.5 kilograms), which makes it “the largest known piece of March never found on earth”, according to Sotheby’s – The auction house responsible for the sale of Space Rock.
It is around 70% larger than the The largest known Martian meteoriteAnd is described as having a “dark red shade” and a “glass crust”, according to Sotheby’s.
An anonymous meteorite hunter recovered NWA 16788 from part of the Sahara desert In Niger in November 2023. The Space Rock was known to scientists before, but has not been studied in detail, which means that it is currently clear how age is the age of rock, according to a 2024 Study.
“NWA 16788 is a geological time capsule from another world,” wrote the representatives of Sotheby. “With less than 400 Martian meteorites ever recorded, and most of them not larger than a pebble, this specimen offers the largest tangible connection to a planet that has captivated humanity for centuries.”
In relation: 32 things on Mars that seem not to be there
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The meteorite was sold to a Auction on the theme of natural history Held at the Sotheby’s New York auction house on Wednesday July 16, as well as more than 100 other lots, including dinosaur fossils, megalodon teethNeanderthal tools, rare minerals, a Piece of “fossilized lightning” and several other meteorites.
Sold at the same auction was the skeleton mounted with a Juvenile ceratosaurusA theropod dinosaur that lived at the end of the Jurassic. The skeleton sold $ 30.5 million, making it the third most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold at auction. The most expensive fossil ever sold was a stegosaurus Skeleton named “apex”, which sold $ 44.6 million in July 2024.
What can we learn from Martian meteorites?
Martian meteorites are pieces of the red planet that have been ejected into space while asteroids and comets broke into the extraterrestrial world. Most of these fragments have probably derived in space for millions, if not billions, years before finally falling on earth.
While several Rovers Mars have examined the rocks on the red planet, these robots have not returned to earth so far, and it is unlikely that it will change due to the recent NASA Cancellation of the mission to return from the Mars sampleThis means that meteorites like NWA 16788 are currently the only way to directly study the origins of Mars on Earth. (A Planned Chinese mission could bring back the samples from March to Earth at the beginning of 2031.)
Martian meteorites on earth have already led to multiple discoveries: for example, in 2023, researchers discovered a “Huge diversity” of organic compounds Hiding in a rock recovered from Morocco; And in 2024, experts Proof discovery of ancient water on Mars In a rediscovered meteorite found in a university collection.
Researchers also have retraced the probable origins of more than 200 Martian meteorites And have found that they can be linked to only five different impact sites on Mars, suggesting that space rocks can be used to study specific March locations.
Whether or not the researchers can know more about the Red Planet of NWA 16788 depends on the question of whether its new owner allows you to be studied by scientists.
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