If you’re looking for a gift out of this world this Valentine’s Day, an auction house offers rare pieces of meteorites from the moon, Mars and beyond, for just $ 250.
In an online sale starting Tuesday, Feb. 9, Christie’s auction house is auctioning off 72 meteorites: solid pieces of debris from celestial objects like comets and asteroids reaching Earth as shooting stars, somehow managing to survive its journey through our atmosphere to land on the surface.
“The weight of all known meteorites is less than the world’s gold production in the world and this sale offers spectacular examples for every collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. write the auction house on your website.
The collection includes a meteorite containing 7 billion-year-old star dust, iron-wrapped space gems, and the fourth largest moon slice. A great chunk of Martian rock, with an estimated value of $ 30,000 to $ 50,000, keeps bubbles trapped inside the planet’s atmosphere.
Christie’s
According to Christie’s, there are a dozen samples of the moon and Mart, and another dozen previously housed by famous museums around the world.
“Everyone has an image in mind of what a meteorite should look like: an extraterrestrial body that heats up by friction as it perforates the Earth’s atmosphere,” said James Hyslop, head of science and natural history at Christie’s. “Rarely do objects survive this fiery descent similar to the shared ideal seen in this meteorite. It is a marvel to see and an honor to have been entrusted with its sale.”
An object in the collection did not touch the ground: a boy from Morocco found the meteorite on the branches of a tree a day after a meteor shower – It is worth an estimated $ 15,000 to $ 25,000. Another, coming from the largest meteor shower in the United States in Odessa, Texas, expects to get between $ 40,000 and $ 60,000.
“If there was ever a time to be impressed by the infinity of the night sky, we live there, but if you want to breathe in and see how your eyes widen, touch a meteorite,” said Commissioner Darryl Pitt.
Christie’s
The auction house said one of the highlights of the sale is a 16-pound “highly aesthetic” stone meteorite, estimated to sell for between $ 50,000 and $ 80,000.
“Unlike 99% of the rest of the meteorites, this meteorite did not fall or reverse when it fell to Earth, but maintained a stable orientation throughout its descent,” the auction house said. “The surface facing the Earth features elongated flight marks that radiate outward in this compelling extraterrestrial aerodynamic shape.”
Meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara Desert to Chile and Russia.
The “Deep Impact: Martians, Polka Dots, and Other Rare Meteorites” auction runs through Feb. 23 and interested buyers located in New York can see them in person by appointment.