Sotheby's: Most valuable meteorite from Mars sold at auction for US$5.3 million
The auction of the largest piece of Mars on Earth exceeded Sotheby's expectations, fetching US$5.3 million.
The Martian meteorite NWA 16788
(Image: Sotheby's)
The largest known fragment of Mars on Earth was auctioned on Wednesday for a total of US$5.3 million (approximately €4.5 million). This was announced by the auction house Sotheby's, which stated that the red stone is now the most expensive meteorite ever sold at auction. Sotheby's has not yet disclosed who bought the stone, which weighs almost 25 kilograms. According to The Guardian, the final bid was US$4.3 million, with the total price including various fees and additional costs. Until it is clear who bought the meteorite, it remains unclear where the rare item will end up.
“Unmistakably Martian”
The meteorite, designated NWA 16788, was discovered exactly two years before its auction by an anonymous meteorite hunter in the Agadez region of northeastern Niger. It is more than two-thirds larger than the next largest meteorite, which also comes from Mars. It also accounts for about 6.5 percent of all material known on Earth that originated on the Red Planet. This makes it extremely valuable for research. The fact that it is surrounded by a red crust that looks “distinctly Martian,” as Sotheby's put it, may have helped it fetch such a high price at auction.
Videos by heise
Before the auction, there was criticism about how the meteorite was being handled. “It would be a shame if it disappeared into an oligarch's vault,” said paleontologist Steve Brusatte. The mighty chunk of rock belongs in a museum where it can be studied and enjoyed by children, families, and the public. Planetologist Julia Cartwright, on the other hand, pointed out that without a market for such finds, there would be far fewer people willing to spend a lot of time and money searching for meteorites. In that case, far fewer would be found, which would be bad for research as a whole.
(mho)
