Unlocking Secrets from Mars: The Largest Martian Meteorite Ever Discovered Hits the Auction Block, Sparking Global Curiosity
Researchers estimate, based on the severity of an impact that would launch Martian material from the planet’s surface to Earth, that there are only around 19 craters large enough to be potential origin points for Martian meteorites.
“That chunk had to be loose enough to break off, and then it had to get on the right trajectory to travel 140 million miles to Earth, and then it had to land in a spot where someone could find it,” Hatton told Gothamist. “And then we were lucky enough that someone came by who knew enough about meteorites to recognize that it wasn’t just a big rock.”
Sotheby’sSotheby’s estimates the value of the meteorite to be between $2 million and $4 million.
The technical classification of NWA 16788 is an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite. In layman’s terms, this essentially means it was formed by slowly cooling Martian magma and has a course-grained texture mainly composed of pyroxene, maskelynite, and olivine. This is another rare attribute of the meteorite, as only 5.4 percent of Martian meteorites are classified as gabbroic or microgabbroic.
Sotheby’s additionally suggested that the study of this meteorite could potentially lead to the revision of the Martian meteorite classification system.
NWA 16788 is set to go to auction on July 16, two years after it was found, alongside objects that went to space with Buzz Aldrin and one of the 50 original Apple-1 computers hand-built by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976.
After reading about this rare Martian meteorite, go inside the evidence that could support the idea of life on Mars. Then, dive deeper into humanity’s search for life on the red planet.
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