If you are looking for a gift out of the world on this Valentine’s Day, an auction house offers rare pieces of meteorite from month, Mars and beyond – for only 250 USD.
In an online sale starting Tuesday, Feb. 9, Christie’s Auction House is auctioning off 72 meteorites – solid pieces of remnants of celestial objects, such as comets and asteroids that reach Earth as falling stars, somehow managing to survive their journey through our atmosphere to land on the surface.
“The weight of each known meteorite is less than the world’s annual gold production, and this sale provides spectacular examples for each collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the auction house wrote on its website.
The collection includes a meteorite containing 7 billion-year-old star dust, iron-clad space stones and the fourth largest slice of the moon. A large piece of The Martian rock, with an estimated value of 30,000 to 50,000 dollars, holds bubbles from the atmosphere of the planet trapped inside.
Christie’s
According to Christie, there are a dozen samples a month and Mars, and another dozen previously hosted by famous museums around the world.
“Everyone has an image in mind of what a meteorite should look like – an alien body heated by friction as it pierces the Earth’s atmosphere,” said James Hyslop, head of science and natural history for Christie’s. “Rarely do objects survive this fiery descent, it looks like the common ideal seen in this meteorite. It is a miracle to see and an honor to have been entrusted with the sale.”
An object from the collection never hit the ground – a young boy from Morocco found the meteorite in the branches of a tree the day after a meteor shower – worth about 15,000 – 25,000 USD. Another came from the largest US meteor shower in Odessa, Texas, which is expected to fetch $ 40,000 to $ 60,000.
“If there was ever a time to be amazed by the infinity of the night sky, we live in it, but if you want to breathe in and see how your eyes grow – touch a meteorite,” said curator Darryl Pitt.
Christie’s
The auction house said one of the highlights of the sale was a 16-kilogram “extremely aesthetic stone meteorite” estimated to sell for between $ 50,000 and $ 80,000.
“Unlike 99% of all other meteorites, this meteorite did not collapse or overturn as it was thrown to Earth, but maintained a stable orientation throughout the descent,” the auction house said. “The surface facing the Earth shows elongated flight tracks radiating outward in this compelling, extraterrestrial aerodynamic shape.”
Meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara desert to Chile to Russia.
The “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites” auction runs until February 23, and interested buyers in New York can see them in person, by appointment.