\n Known as NWA 16788, the meteorite weighs 54 pounds (24.5 kilograms), massive compared with most Martian meteorites, which tend to be small fragments, auction house Sotheby\u2019s said in a July 8 statement.\n <\/p>\n
\n Meteorites are what\u2019s left when a comet, asteroid or a meteoroid survives its passage through the earth\u2019s atmosphere.\n <\/p>\n
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\n Discovered in November 2023 in the remote Agadez region of Niger, NWA 16788 is a \u201cmonumental specimen\u201d that is around 70% larger than the next biggest piece of Mars ever found on Earth, according to Sotheby\u2019s.\n <\/p>\n
\n It is also incredibly rare: only around 400 Martian meteorites have ever been found on Earth.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cNWA 16788 is a discovery of extraordinary significance \u2014 the largest Martian meteorite ever found on Earth, and the most valuable of its kind ever offered at auction,\u201d Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby\u2019s, said in the statement.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWeathered by its journey through space and time, its immense size and unmistakable red color sets it apart as a once-in-a-generation find. This remarkable meteorite provides a tangible connection to the red planet \u2014 our celestial neighbor that has long captured the human imagination,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n
\n Analysis of the meteorite\u2019s internal composition has revealed that it was probably removed from the Martian surface and blasted into space by an asteroid impact that was so powerful it turned parts of the meteorite into glass.\n <\/p>\n
\n A glassy crust can also be seen on its surface, formed as it hurtled through Earth\u2019s atmosphere, according to Sotheby\u2019s.\n <\/p>\n
\n For some, the fact that the meteorite was auctioned off rather than donated to science is cause for concern.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt would be a shame if it disappeared into the vault of an oligarch. It belongs in a museum, where it can be studied, and where it can be enjoyed by children and families and the public at large,\u201d Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at Scotland\u2019s University of Edinburgh, told CNN before the sale.\n <\/p>\n
\n But for Julia Cartwright, a planetary scientist and Independent Research Fellow in the Institute for Space\/School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Leicester, England, there is a balance to be struck.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cUltimately, if there was no market for searching, collecting and selling meteorites, we would not have anywhere near as many in our collections \u2014 and this drives the science!\u201d she told CNN on July 9, describing a \u201csymbiotic relationship\u201d between researchers and collectors.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf samples weren\u2019t being found, we would not have anywhere near as much to study, and so wouldn\u2019t know as much as we do,\u201d added Cartwright.\n <\/p>\n
\n While she believes it would be great if this \u201creally fabulous rock\u201d were to be studied or displayed for the public to see, Cartwright underlined that a reference sample from the meteorite has been saved at the Purple Mountain Observatory in China.\n <\/p>\n
\n While we don\u2019t know where the meteorite will end up, Cartwright believes that \u201cthe scientific interest will remain, and the new owner may be very interested in learning from it, so we may still gather lots of science from this,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
\n In February 2021, a Martian meteorite with the planet\u2019s atmosphere entrapped in it went under the hammer at Christie\u2019s auction house.\n <\/p>\n
\n It sold for $200,000, far above its pre-auction estimate of $30,000-50,000.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 A meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars on Earth has sold for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79,193],"class_list":["post-14267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}