For those looking for an accessory a little out of this world, an auction house has an extraordinary offering: meteorites.
In an online sale, Christie’s auction house features a portfolio of celestial objects, including specimens from the Moon and Mars, as well as aesthetic iron meteorites and rocks containing precious stones.
Meteorites are small natural objects in space that survive their passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and land on the surface, and while some of the specimens are in museums, 75 of them are sold this month as part of ” Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and auction of other rare meteorites.
Among the collection is a statue made up of 7 billion-year-old star dust, an oriented stone meteorite that went to Earth in an unusual way.
The auction includes this specimen, which contains precious stones, estimated at between $ 3,500 and $ 4,500, from Xinjiang. Credit: Christie’s
Unlike most other meteorites, this one did not fall or reverse when it fell to Earth, but instead maintained a stable orientation as it fell, according to Christie’s. Weighing nearly 16 pounds, the stone, which is estimated to sell for between $ 50,000 and $ 80,000, has distinctive, divergent markings on the side facing the Earth.
A sphere designed from the meteorite core of a shattered Swedish asteroid is also on sale. Credit: Christie’s
“Everyone has a picture of what a meteorite should look like: an alien body that is heated by friction as it pierces the Earth’s atmosphere,” said James Hyslop, Christie’s head of science and natural history. they survive this fiery descent seem to that shared ideal seen in this meteorite, “he added.
A gibeon meteorite, for sale for an estimated $ 15,000 to $ 25,000 Credit: Christie’s
Also on sale is a cross-section of Martian rock, with bubbles from the planet’s atmosphere trapped inside the slice, estimated at between $ 30,000 and $ 50,000. Auctioneers also offer a specimen of meteorite from the largest meteor shower in the United States, in Odessa, Texas, which auctioneers expect could fetch $ 60,000, along with a sphere designed from the meteorite core of a shattered Swedish asteroid , which could sell for $ 18,000.
But not all objects command astronomical prices; some of the items from other countries have a reserve label starting at $ 250 for the auction, which will begin Feb. 9.