The largest-known piece of Mars ever found on Earth is going up for auction on Wednesday and could fetch as much as $4 million because of the rareness of an extraterrestrial item.
Sotheby’s auction house is opening the bidding on a meteorite that it calls “an incredibly rare discovery,” at $1.6 million.
According to the auction site, bidders are bidding on the largest piece of Mars on Earth, which was ejected from the Martian surface by a massive asteroid strike.
After the strike, the rock traveled 140 million miles through space and hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere before crashing in the Sahara Desert, the New York City auction house said.
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Dubbed NWA 16788, the rock was discovered on Nov. 16, 2023 by a meteorite hunter in Niger’s remote Agadez Region.
NWA 16788 is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars that has ever been found on Earth.
According to the auction post, pieces of Mars are “unbelievably rare.” There are currently over 77,000 recognized meteorites on Earth, and of those, only 400 are from Mars and have a combined weight of 825 pounds.
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Sotheby’s said NWA 16788 weighs 24.67 kilograms, or about 54 pounds, which equates to 6.5% of all Martian material currently known on Earth.
The 14.75-by-11-by-6-inch meteorite is covered in what Sotheby’s described as a “reddish-brown fusion crust” which gives the item an “unmistakable Martian hue.”
NWA 16788 has surface depressions that experts say formed from frictional heating as the Martian rock fell through Earth’s atmosphere.
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It also has minimal terrestrial weathering, which the auction listing says indicates its physical and chemical makeup have not been significantly altered since arriving in the Sahara.
“In other words, NWA 16788 is likely a relative newcomer here on Earth, having fallen from outer space rather recently,” Sotheby’s said.
The meteorite is being auctioned off as part of Sotheby’s Natural History sale, which features meteorites like NWA 16788, as well as other natural wonders, minerals and fossils.
One fossil being auctioned is an exhibition-ready mounted skeleton of a juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis dinosaur, which could go for $4-$6 million.
The live auction for NWA 16788 begins at 10 a.m. on July 16. Bidding opens up at $1.6 million, and Sotheby’s says it is estimated to be purchased for $2-$4 million.
