For those looking for a little accessory from this world, an auction house has an extraordinary offer: 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 housed in museums, 75 of them are sold this month as part of “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar” and other rare meteorites “.
Among the collections is a statue made of 7 billion-year-old star dust – an oriented stone meteorite that found its way to Earth in an unusual way.
The auction includes this specimen, which contains precious stones, estimated at 3,500 – 4,500 USD, from Xinjiang. Credit: Christie’s
Unlike most other meteorites, it did not collapse or reverse as it fell to Earth, but instead maintained a stable orientation as it fell, according to Christie. Weighing nearly 16 kilograms, the stone, which is estimated to sell for $ 50,000-80,000, has distinct, divergent markings on the side facing the Earth.
Also for sale is a sphere made of the meteorite core of a shattered Swedish asteroid. Credit: Christie’s
“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 at Christie’s. “Rarely do objects survive this fiery descent. It looks like the common ideal seen in this meteorite,” he added.
A gibeon meteorite, on sale for about $ 15,000 to $ 25,000 Credit: Christie’s
Also on sale is a Martian stone cross section, with bubbles from the planet’s atmosphere trapped inside the slice, estimated at $ 30,000-50,000. Bidders are also offering a meteorite specimen from the largest meteor shower in the U.S. in Odessa, Texas, which bidders expect to bring in $ 60,000, along with a sphere shaped from the meteoric core of a broken Swedish asteroid. , which could sell for $ 18,000.
But not all items order astronomical prices – some of the items in the world have a spare label starting at $ 250 for the auction, which will start on February 9th.