Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
“Incredibly rare” piece Mars – the biggest ever found on Earth – was sold for $ 4.3 million ($ 3.2 million) at auction in New York on Wednesday.
The meteorite, known as NWA 16788, weighs 54 pounds (24.5 kg) and is nearly 15 inches long (38.1 cm), according to Sotbis.
It was discovered in a remote region of Niger in November 2023 and is 70% more than the next largest piece from Mars, which was restored, the auction house reported.
Meteorites are any pieces of rock after an asteroid or comet passes through the earth’s atmosphere.
The Sotbis auction house described the meteorite, a reddish brown rock, like “incredibly rare”. Only about 400 Martian meteorites were found on Earth.
“This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth. The chances of what comes from there are astronomically small,” says Cassandra Hatton, Vice-President of Science and Natural History at Sotheby’s, in a video posted online.
“Remember that approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. So we have incredible luck that this landed on dry ground instead of in the middle of the ocean, where we could actually find it.”
It remains unclear where the meteorite will be, as the information about the sale will remain private.
Additional taxes and fees have led the total price of the scale to about $ 5.3 million, Sotbis said.
On Wednesday auction, which included more than 100 items, a Caratosaurus skeleton from the late Jurassic period sold for $ 26 million, and the Pachycephalosaurus skull sold for $ 1.4 million.
