Topline
A 54-pound meteorite from Mars, believed to be the most important piece of the planet presently on Earth, might be bought to the very best bidder later this month in a Sotheby’s public sale that’s anticipated to rake in between $2 million and $4 million.
The Planet Mars.
Key Info
Known as NWA 16788, the specimen was present in November of 2023 in Niger’s distant Agadez area, a part of the Sahara Desert.
The “once-in-a-generation discover” has a purple hue and a glassy fusion crust that Sotheby’s stated suggests it was blasted from the floor of Mars by an asteroid influence so highly effective it turned among the meteorite’s minerals into glass.
There are roughly 77,000 formally acknowledged meteorites on Earth and, of these, solely 400 are Martian, in response to Sotheby’s.
The hunk of rock is anticipated to fetch between $2 million and $4 million when it’s bought July 16, making it essentially the most precious meteorite ever provided at public sale.
NWA 16788, a Martian meteorite, goes up for public sale July 16, 2025.
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Large Quantity
6.59%. That’s the proportion of Martian materials on Earth that this meteorite accounts for. The 400 acknowledged Martian meteorites have a mixed whole weight of roughly 825 kilos, that means NWA 16788 makes up virtually 7% of all Martian materials ever discovered on our planet.
Shocking Truth
Solely about 15 meteorites are found in North America per 12 months, in response to Sotheby’s. .
Tangent
Till NWA 16788 goes up on the market, the Fukang meteorite holds the title of the most costly ever provided at public sale. The specimen was present in 2000 in China and is classed as a pallasite—a sort of stony–iron meteorite with olivine crystals. It’s regarded as over 4.5 million years previous, probably older than Earth, and weighs greater than 2,200 kilos. In 2008, a 925-pound slice of the Fukang meteorite was valued at round $2 million and put up for auction by Bonhams in New York. It didn’t promote.
