A larger “incredibly rare” piece of Mars, the largest ever found on Earth, recently commanded $ 4.3 million in a New York auction, but with additional taxes and rates, the total price of the extraterrestrial rock rose to approximately $ 5.3 million.
Appeared NWA 16788, this remarkable meteorite weighs 54 lb colossal (24.5 kilograms) and measures almost 15 inches (38.1 centimeters) long, the BBC reported.
According to Sotheby’s, the auction house that facilitated the sale, was discovered in a remote region of Niger in November 2023.
In addition, Sotheby’s confirmed that Mars’s piece was 70% larger than the next largest piece on the red planet ever recovered, which makes it a monumental finding for collectors and scientists.
“This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth. The chances of obtaining this astronomically small,” said Cassandra Hatton, vice president of science and natural history in Sotheby’s, in a video published online.
“Remember that approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Therefore, we are incredibly fortunate that this has landed on dry land, instead of half of the ocean, where we could really find it.”
Meteorites are the remains of the rock that remain after an asteroid or comet passes through the atmosphere of the earth. Martian meteorites, however, are exceptionally scarce; Only about 400 on Earth have been found.
This reddish brown rock, described by Sotheby’s as “incredibly rare”, represents a unique opportunity to study material directly from the red planet.
In addition, the buyer of this weird rock and the information about his sale remain private, as is common for high profile sales.
The recent auction had more than 100 articles, with NWA 16788 as the highlight among other significant artifacts of natural history. The event also saw a skeleton of Ceratourus of the late Jurassic period to be veiled for $ 26 million, and the skull of a Pachycephalosaurus obtained $ 1.4 million.
